Pulled Under
by glubbingwwhales
Summary: She looked up to see the sun just coming over the water. She squinted through the bright light and sighed. She would love to get used to this; but her time was short and she didn't want to get attached to the privilege of living free.
1. Chapter 1

~Prologue~

The sand looked pretty inviting if she did say so herself. Vriska pulled off her sandals as she stepped onto the beach. She bent down to pick them up, carrying them with her as she walked down farther, closer to the water. Terezi was behind her, bounding down the beach to catch up. She set out her towel and dropped her bag next to it, stretching out in the hot sun. her bikini showed off her feminine curves and if there was anyone on the beach but her and Terezi, she might try showing some of them off.

She was about to sit down but Terezi would have none of her tanning crap, "Come on, what's the point of going to the beach if you aren't going to swim? You can lay in the sun on your front lawn if you want a tan."  
"Yeah, but I also have a pool so if I wanted to swim I could easily do so there, closer to home."  
"Your pool is too exposed, you can't go skinny dipping if the neighbors are watching."  
"I could."  
"But you wouldn't."  
"I might."  
"No you wouldn't."  
"You're right I probably wouldn't."  
"Right, so let's go swimming. But I'm not skinny dipping."  
"What's the point in bringing up skinny dipping if you won't even take off your swimsuit at a secluded lake. It's not like anyone else even comes here, it's private property of my neighbor. I don't even know why he bought this part of the property, it's not like he goes swimming or anything... not that I know of anyway. That's kind of creepy to imagine to be perfectly honest."  
"I guess you're right. Maybe we could go skinny dipping later though. What's the fun of skinny dipping in broad daylight? You're supposed to wait until nightfall so it seems like you're doing something worth hiding, aren't you?"  
"You make a valid point."

"Yeah. so swim now, skinny dip later."  
Vriska rolled her eyes and stood back up from where she'd sat on her towel. She followed Terezi to the shore, her feet getting covered in the cold water, "What am I supposed to do, just go stand out there? We need to think of something fun to do other than just stand around."  
"Well we could play a game. But I personally don't think you look like the game-playing type. I know from experience too. You never play games. Not even when your best friend begs you to."  
"I dunno, I think I'm in a particularly giving mood today. What did you have in mind?"  
"Water tag or water hide-and-seek, or marco polo."  
"Water hide-and-seek? How would that even work, there's nowhere to hide."  
"The seeker has to close their eyes, duh."  
"Well now, that sounds pretty fun."

Terezi went out to the water up to her waste, goose bumps rising on her pale skin in the icy water, "You hide first." She plugged her ears and closed her eyes, Vriska turning to find a spot to hide. She went out deeper just to turn back around. She went to the shore and found a nice big rock, picking it up, she swam out as far as she could, about thirty feet from shore, before she began to sink. Terezi was counting down from twenty and she was just hitting zero as Vriska's head was submerged and she began to sink, a smile making itself known on her face. She had pulled her goggles down and was now watching through the hazy water as Terezi felt around. She seemed to be getting farther away though and eventually, Vriska had to force herself to the surface for air. She was quiet but the sound of her breaking the surface was just a bit noticeable to someone with an extreme knack for hearing the unobvious.

Terezi turned around just as Vriska took another deep breath and went underwater again. It wasn't too long after that she was found. She was actually surprised Terezi had found her at all. She would probably have a much harder time trying to find her friend. The game went on like this for quite a while until Vriska decided she wanted to stop swimming. Terezi chided her to stay out longer and Vriska conceded begrudgingly. Terezi decided they should see who could swim furthest.

"I bet I could swim way farther than you."  
"Probably not, I've been taking swim classes for two years now and I can swim almost two miles."  
"Yeah but even if I never took classes, I've been swimming all my life. My family goes camping a lot and swimming is a thing I do. You know that."  
"Well then, we'll just have to see whose swimming time has paid off."

The two started towards the open expanse of the lake. The lake was the biggest one around and they couldn't see the shore on the opposite side. Vriska was swimming fast while Terezi went at a more leisurely pace. Vriska was ahead by far, "What was that about family vacations," she called over her shoulder.  
Terezi cackled, "I never said I was an athlete."  
Vriska was far ahead by now. She stopped about half a mile out, "Our school pool is indoors. I guess swimming distances is a lot harder with ninety degrees of sunlight hitting you in the face."  
Terezi laughed, "Well come back then, I think it's obvious you won."  
"Well the outcome was never really in doubt."  
"Get back here before your big head throws you off balance and you sink."  
"Yeah, yeah."  
Vriska started back towards shore when a sudden cramp made itself known in her leg. She gasp as she lost her balance and the water was suddenly up to her mouth. She kicked her feet, regaining he place on the surface of the water. A sudden wave of exhaustion ran through her and her legs felt stiff. She tried to keep herself on the surface but it was hard with exhaustion settling in her stomach like a heavy rock whose only mission was to drown her.

Terezi was swimming to shore and her feet hit the sandy ground as she approached land. She turned around to see that Vriska was still where she had been minutes before, struggling to stay above water. She didn't know what was up with her, "Hey Vris, what's wrong?"  
Vriska didn't reply and soon her head had disappeared under water. Terezi panicked. What could she do from all the way over here. There was no way of getting to her and once she was underwater, her location would be completely unknown. Terezi bit her lip and thought about what to do. She could only do one thing. The only thing that came to mind. She sprinted into the water and swam as fast as her short legs would allow her to. For as long as she'd known Vriska she had never seen her have trouble swimming. As girly as she was sometimes, she was an athlete. She had never had this kind of trouble before.

Vriska was lost to her. She looked around and found nothing. No one. She dove under water with her goggles in place trying to spot her friend anywhere. Panicked thoughts presented themselves. What if she was the reason for this? What if her friend was dead or dying because she couldn't stand playing in the water alone?

She accidentally gasped in a breath of water and shot to the surface, sputtering and coughing. She wasn't sure if it was lake water or tears running down her face at this point. What did a person do in this situation? She would never be able to find her on her own and how would anyone else find her? She could be at the bottom of the lake by now. What was she supposed to do? Leave and go home? Call someone? She didn't know. She decided to swim hurriedly back to shore and call 911. Her phone was buried in her purse and she dug it out in a frenzy, punching in the numbers with shaky fingers.

~Chapter 1~

Everything was dark. She knew her eyes were closed and she knew what had happened. She had drowned. She was dead. She wondered what kind of afterlife she would find waiting for her when she opened her eyes. She always thought dying would relieve her of any pain but the throbbing in the back of her head and horribly rough breathing she had to endure told her otherwise.

Her eyes were squinted open and suddenly a bright light was blinding her. She shut them again, her hands pulling through the soft barrier that surrounded her to rub at them futilely. She opened them once more, the back of her right hand pressed over them to shield herself from the bright light that was definitely trying to blind her.

She was hot. She looked down to see a thick blanket wrapped around her. She was completely stripped of clothing. She pulled the blanket tight around her and looked down to see that she was situated in a soft arm chair. She never expected hell to be so classy. She looked around the room to see pictures in silver accented frames and a table in the corner with a pure white tablecloth thrown over it. She stopped to look at the tablecloth. She liked the design it had. The base was completely white and it had purple designs lining the edges. The chairs next to the table were old and wooden but seemed to be newly painted, the paint still a vibrant white with the same shade of purple used to paint the small designs carved into the backs.

She looked down at the floor to see it was old fashioned wood flooring. She liked that. A bookshelf sat against the wall near the chair she was in. Old leather-bound books lined the shelves, a thin carving-decorated board in front of each shelf to hold the books in place. She suddenly felt as if the floor was shifting, the chair seeming to lean to the left. This was when she realized she was supposed to be dead and that she was not dead; as far as she knew.

She looked to the door. It reminded her of something you would see in a movie about pirates. It had a round window near the top with a metal band around the edges, the glass clean. There was a thick rope wrapped around the circle almost like a decoration. She was about to stand and go through the door when she remembered she was naked and this blanket wasn't very big.

"Hello?!"  
She retreated into the blanket as she heard footsteps approaching the door to the room she was in. Her eyes zeroed in on the doorknob as it turned. A man stood in the doorway, "You're awake."  
"Who are you?"  
"Who are _you_?"  
"I'm not at home."  
"Well I'm confused."  
"Now that our current states of being are out of the way, who are you and why am I not dead?"  
"Do you want to be dead? Cause if you're discontent by your current condition, I can toss you back in the lake."  
"No... I mean, I'm glad I'm alive. But I have no idea where I am or who you are and I think those things are kind of important to know. Not to mention why I'm completely naked."  
The man's cheeks turned red and he looked away, "Sorry. I didn't want you to freeze or get sick or something."  
"No offense taken."  
"I'm Eridan."  
The young man held out a hand and Vriska shook it, "Vriska."  
"You're in my house at the moment."  
"How did you find me?"  
"That's a long story. Maybe we should get something to eat and get you some clothes. I hung out your swimsuit to dry so I guess that'll suffice for undergarments at the moment. You can borrow some of my clothes if you want."  
"That's fine."  
Eridan retreated from the room for a minute, going outside and then coming back in with her swimsuit now dry. He handed it to her, "I'll be outside, come get me when you have that on and I can take you to my room to pick out some clothes."  
"Kay."

Vriska might be suspicious of this man's intentions if it wasn't blatantly obvious that he wasn't used to dealing with people at all and was just as uncomfortable as her. She stood and quickly pulled her bikini in place, keeping the blanket wrapped around her shoulders as she opened the door. She looked around, shocked. They were on the lake.

"Hey, um, lake? What?"  
"I thought it was obvious from the movements. This is a houseboat."  
Vriska's mouth opened in awe. She followed him down a set of stairs behind a metal door much like the one in the room she'd just come out of. He led her down the stairs and into a room much like the other, looking like some kind of pirate themed room. All of the books in here had leather covers. The bed had a thick cotton blanket on it. Another table was in the corner of this room but unlike the classy room upstairs, this one was just plain brown wood. A candle stick sat in a silver holder in the center of the table. She watched him go to a dresser on the far side of the room, opening the second drawer down.

"Here's all my pants and shorts and stuff, the shirts are in the next drawer down."  
"Okay."  
He sat on his bed while she looked through the drawers, finally stopping with a pair of knee length khaki shorts and a black and white striped polo. She slipped into them and looked herself over in a full-body mirror. Her hair was a mess but other than that she didn't look too bad.

She turned around, "So... what do you have to eat?"  
"Follow me." He opened the door to the stairwell and led her back on deck. He pulled open a metal box near the side of the boat, pulling out two fishing rods, handing her one. He picked up a tackle box from the ground and led her around back.

"I mostly eat what I catch but I do stop at a few places along the way."  
"Along what way? You're pretty vague, you know."  
"Sorry... I don't talk to many people."  
"That's okay. What places do you stop?"  
"Well I mapped out a big line of currents that lead onto each other. It's kind of like a line of dominoes. You tip one and the rest of them fall into place all on their own. So I used the motor on this boat to get to one of those currents when I first moved out on the lake. Then I've been going through the same circle of currents for about three years now. It's kind of nice not havin to interact with people but my social skills leave much to be desired."  
"So what day is it?"  
"August sixth."  
"I've been out for two days?"  
"Yeah, somethin like that."  
"Oh my God Terezi must be so worried about me!"  
"Who?"  
"I was out swimming with my friend and I don't really know what happened but it's kind of like... it's like I passed out. Just randomly. I got really tired and just couldn't move all of a sudden. And... I don't even know what Terezi must think she probably thinks I'm dead."

"Well Maybe now's a good time to tell you how I found you."  
He handed her a jar of bait and cast out before sitting down on the open edge of the boat, legs hanging down and bare feet skimming the water's surface. Vriska followed suit, waiting for him to continue.

"I have a friend. Her name is Feferi. And I don't know how superstitious you are so you might not even believe me at all, but she's kind of like a water goddess."  
Vriska couldn't help but giggle. Now she knew why this guy was separated from society.  
"Don't laugh, I'm serious. I'll let you meet her too. We're circlin a peninsula right now and there's an entrance to her home on the other side. Anyway listen. The big link of currents comes by four different entrances to her home underwater. I go there all the time to keep her company. She has a thing she refers to as a custodian. It's a huge creature living under the bottom of the lake. It lives in a cage but it does a lot of things through supersonic waves through the water. She has to be fed at the same time each week or she starts to get out of control. Feferi couldn't find anything for her to eat in the lake so she was late for feeding a few days ago. The custodian reached out with the sonic waves and tried to grab at anything within distance of her cage. That something was you... and lots of little fish. That's why you couldn't move. It hasn't happened before though with a human so me and Feferi were scared of what to do. The cage bars are close together though and act as a filter to keep the custodian from eating nonfood items. Feferi went and saved you, taking you under to her home. She doesn't interact well with humans so she asked if I could take care of you. So that's what happened."

"I'm not sure if I'm really just knocked out somewhere on a beach and I'm losing my mind or if you are just the craziest person I have ever met in my life."  
"I figured you'd say that. So when we get to the other docking station of the peninsula I'll pull the boat aside and you can meet the custodian yourself."  
"It's a deal. Also, when do we get back to the part of the lake I was at?"  
"What part were you at?"  
"It's a little inlet with lots of trees surrounding it, really sandy, you should have passed it about three days ago."  
"Is there a house just through the woods? Visible from the beach?"  
"That's the place."  
"Hmmm... should be back there in about a month."  
"WHAT?!"  
"Yeah. The currents go completely around this stretch of land. You probably know this is a big island in the middle of a really big lake."  
"Yeah, I know but... a month?"  
"Yep."  
"Give me your cell phone."  
"Don't have one."  
"Who doesn't have a cellphone?"  
"Me, obviously."  
"Oh my God, when is the next stop to land?"  
"In a few days."  
"Okay good. I think my parents can probably deal with thinking their only daughter is dead for just a few more fucking days."  
"Just think how relieved they'll be when they find out you're alive. Won't take you for granted anymore, that's for sure."  
"How would you know if my parents take me for granted? They don't."  
"All parents take their kids for granted. It's in their nature."  
"So I'm assuming you and your parents aren't in a very good relationship? Is that why you moved out here?"  
"Not at all. I moved out here because I'm fond of water. I like solitude. It suits me."

Vriska reeled her line in and lay the empty fishing rod on the deck before lying back, feet still dangling in the water below, "So... I guess we have a few days of talking left. We should at least make the most of it. Even though my entire family is probably flipping out and planning my funeral right now."  
"Oh don't be so dramatic, I'm sure they'll be fine. Think about it this way, when they don't find the body, they'll assume you might be okay, right?"  
"If you think I'm dramatic, you've yet to meet my mother. She'll think I'm dead whether they find a body or not."  
"Tough luck. Well, try to enjoy yourself while you're on-board. It might be nice to go on a little vacation while you can."  
"I must agree. "  
Eridan yanked on his fishing pole and reeled the line in, a fish of at least twelve inches flopping around to get free. He stood, "Shall we eat dinner?"  
"Sure."

~

Vriska sat quietly as she picked at her food. She wasn't very hungry at all to be honest. Her throat was still scratchy and she was never a huge fan of fish to begin with. So instead of eating, she tried to spark up some conversation.

"How old are you anyway?"  
"21, you?"  
"17."  
"Oh... I thought you were a little older than that."  
"Why?"  
"I don't know, you just look a little more mature than a seventeen-year-old."  
"Is that a remark about you undressing me?"  
"Absolutely not. My eyes were closed anyway."  
"Bullshit."  
"No, I'm serious."  
"You were forced to undress a knocked out woman from a wet bikini and you closed your eyes?"  
"I have respect for women. It's not like I don't know what the female body looks like anyway."  
"You're definitely on the crazy side, whether your fish goddess is real or not."  
"I won't deny anything."

Vriska took a big bite of fish before pushing her plate back and taking a gulp from her icy can of Sprite.  
"Where do I sleep tonight?"  
"Wherever you want to."  
"are there any secret rooms I haven't seen or is it just your bedroom/kitchen thing and the sitting room?"  
"Just these two."  
Vriska's eyes wandered to the bed but she felt obligated to take up refuge in the armchair above deck.  
"I'll just go back up and sleep in that chair."  
"Are you sure? I have an air mattress you can sleep on if you don't want the bed."  
Vriska thought about it again, "Alright. I guess an air mattress is fine."

Eridan went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a folded up, deflated air mattress. He grabbed a pump and plugged it in, attaching the hose and attaching it to the little rubber nib on the air mattress. Vriska's ears were filled with the sound of the pump coming to life. The mattress was blown up in no time. She wasn't really tired yet though so she asked what else there was to do.

Eridan grabbed the mattress and waved at her to follow him. They went upstairs and Eridan lay the mattress out on the wooden deck, laying down on one side and patting the space next to him. Vriska raised an eyebrow but lay down nonetheless. He pointed up at the dark sky, "There are no lights on a lake."  
Vriska could tell what he meant without him having to elaborate. The stars were bright and very noticeable without any lights obstructing their view of them. It seemed kind of wild, lying on an air mattress on a house boat with someone she had just met, watching the stars. But if all turned out to be true with this 'lake goddess' he had mentioned and her custodian thing, she guess everything would make sense. It would all suddenly make sense because with a water goddess and her custodian causing all of this, it seemed almost kind of to be expected.

She had never imagined anything like a goddess to be real but then again she never expected any of this to happen. It was definitely unbelievable and part of her, a part deep, deep inside of her, kind of hoped no one would believe her so she would have an excuse to join the band of crazy people out on the lake. She really wasn't big on fish but if they stopped at stores every few days like Eridan had implied, she might like living alone out here. And it was weird how much she liked him. It was hard for her to find people she liked, especially with how she acted. Most people weren't very tolerant of people like her; know-it-alls with the selfishness of a hundred people. Eridan seemed pretty laid back. She liked that he treated her the same age as him and not like the child everyone else thought she was.

She hoped he wouldn't change his mind about her after learning what she was really like.

She was shocked back into reality when Eridan stood up and held a hand out for her. She took it and pulled herself up. They took the mattress back downstairs and he grabbed a few blankets and pillows from the closet to give to her. She made up a comfortable bed for the night and lay down, at ease.

She didn't get a chance to relax like this at home and she hoped Eridan was right about it being like a vacation.

~

Vriska woke to the sound of footsteps above deck. She rolled over and looked around for a clock. She found one on the wall above Eridan's bed. Seven AM.

She grunted and rolled over, throwing the blanket off of her and walking upstairs quietly, opening the door to see the white hot sun shining down on the deck. Eridan was moving around in the sitting room and she went to see what he was up to. He was rummaging around in a closet and pulled out two wetsuits before noticing Vriska in the doorway, "Mornin."  
"Morning... Why are we getting up at seven?"  
"It's time to go meet up with Fef. Don't wanna sleep in or we'll pass the dockin station."  
"Oh... I see. Actually... I don't see. What docking station?"  
"We aren't there yet."  
"Then why are we up?"  
"Because we have to get ready."  
"Okay, whatever."

Eridan chuckled and handed her a black wetsuit to change into. She took it downstairs to the bathroom attached to Eridan's bedroom. She came back up once changed and waited for instructions. She looked around to find the boat tied to an old dock hidden in a mass of tall grass. She wondered how they weren't stuck but when she looked overboard, she was surprised to see there was no ground in sight. The water was deeper than it looked. That must be some really, really tall sea grass.

Eridan was pulling the once-cluttered rowboat from in the sitting room. It was pretty small and she hoped it wouldn't tip over with both of them in it. She looked over at Eridan while he dropped the boat in the water, climbing under the hand rail to take a ladder down the side of the boat. She followed suit and sat behind him in the boat while he rowed along the side of a cliff face. He turned around a massive curve in the rock and turned into an impressively sized cave. Vriska's eyes were wide as they glided along the surface of the water. It wasn't long before the surface of the water began to ripple and bubble.

"Hold on tight. Also, feel free to scream."  
She was about to ask him what he was telling her that for when she heard a loud roar. She leaned up, looking over his shoulder, eyes wide in horror as she saw what looked like a giant black hole into nothingness.


	2. Chapter 2

She was tempted to close her eyes but at the same time, was too captivated by the black hole to shut them. The boat glided fast over the intense waves as they fell down into the large cavern. Vriska had long since taken Eridan up on his offer to scream. She was surprised when suddenly the boat was still and she could hear Eridan, "Vris...Vriska... Please, let me go."

Vriska opened her eyes to see that her arms had managed to grab onto the man in front of her and she was clinging to him like a lifeline, "Sorry."

She let go of him and he sucked in a deep breath. She stood from the boat and stepped out onto the cool stone floor of the cave they had ended up in. The walls were too perfectly round to be formed naturally. She looked up through the cave they had come down through and noticed she couldn't see any daylight; just blackness. The water at the end took a right and flowed into a stream, following the winding path that seemed to be carved into the ground of the cave.

"How do we get back out of there?"  
"You'll see."  
Vriska followed Eridan through a maze of smooth caves until they came to a big room. She looked around, trying to find something in it before spotting a metal door on the other side of the room. Eridan walked over to it casually and knocked. Vriska sidled up behind him just as a sliding panel in the top of the door slammed open and a pair of bright fuchsia eyes appeared in the slat, "Hellooo?!"

The voice behind the door was bubbly and bright. Vriska wasn't sure if she would like this chick. Eridan smiled, "Hey, 's me."  
"Eridan! Back so soon, I see!"  
The door opened with a flourish and an overly colorful young woman appeared in the doorway. She had on a long skirt with multiple layers of bright pastel material. She wore a bright pink tank top that exposed her stomach, showing off gills on her sides. Vriska's eyes scanned up to her face. She had long, dark wavy hair that bounced when she moved and fell down to her butt. Her bangs were pinned with pastel blue clips to keep them out of her face. Her eyes were shining and surrounding them were the thin pink frames to her glasses.

Vriska was about to say something but stopped short when she saw the damp looking fins protruding from her face where her ears should be. She stood behind Eridan, wondering how this was even a creature that could exist without anyone knowing about her but Eridan and maybe some other unmentioned friends.

"Hey, Fef. Now you can formally meet Vriska."  
Feferi leaned to the side to get a better look at the human girl who was hidden behind Eridan, "Hi! Welcome to my home, I hope the ride down wasn't too terrifying!"  
Vriska raised an eyebrow and shook the hand that was being held out in greeting.

"Oh, don't worry, it was smooth sailing."  
"I'm glad to hear that!"  
Vriska rolled her eyes and followed Eridan through the door which was shut tight behind them. She looked around the room. It generally looked pretty dim. The lighting was poor and she wondered why anyone would want to live here. She looked left and right. It seemed like the room they were in was shaped like a 'U' with a line connecting the corners. To the left and around the corner, was pitch black and almost seemed to disappear into nothing. To the right and around a corner, she could see a very bright light with a blue tint to it. Feferi walked to the right and Eridan followed. Vriska was tempted to sneak past them to the left but decided against it. She would ask about it in a minute. She followed the other two into the bright light. She found herself in a room much like something you might see in a movie. There were colored lights all over the room so it wasn't just lit up but also colored vibrant shades of pink, yellow, blue, green, and purple.

There was a large pool carved into the ground in the back corner with lots of underground lights under the water that shone up through and cast eerie shadows on the walls. There were patches of flowers under bright UV lamps, the flowers mostly darker shades of the colored lights around the room.

This place was beautiful, but altogether too bright for Vriska's taste. She sat down in a big rocking chair near some flowers, "Nice place."  
"Thank you!"  
Feferi sat down on the edge of the pool, "Hey, Eridan, what form would you suggest in the selected company?"  
"Hmm... Form 7."  
"Right!"  
Vriska looked between the two of them, "What are you talking about?"  
Feferi slid into the pool and a white light surrounded her before she became visible again. Her hair was pulled into a thick braid but otherwise she looked the same, "What just happened?"

She lay back in the water to reveal what almost looked like a mermaid tail. Vriska raised an eyebrow, "So, you're a mermaid?"  
"A what?"  
Feferi looked confused but Eridan shook his head, "She can transform into a few things. This is just one of those forms. I figured this would be the most comfortable for the time you're here."  
"Well now I wanna see the rest. Show me."  
Eridan shook his head, "I don't think we should go there," but Feferi was already transforming again.  
"Form 1!"  
Vriska was pretty sure that bubbly voice had just come from a fish in the pond. The white light surrounded the fish.  
"Form 2!" She was back to her human-like form, "This one is a bit uncomfortable though. So I'll go to form 3."  
"Fef, no!"  
The white light was covering her and Vriska looked up at something completely non-human and terrifying. What looked similar to Feferi's human self but almost eight feet tall stood knee-deep in the now small looking pool. Her hair was thick and long and covered up most of her face, casting black shadows over her eyes so that they glowed pink with a dangerous sheen to them. Two large horns were present on her head and any bubbliness left in her voice was gone.

"Who's the fresh meat?"  
Eridan stepped back from her vast presence, "Condesce... Um, Feferi was just showing us the forms."  
"Is that so? I suppose I could go to form 4 next but that seems rather dull considering I'll have to go back to sleep again. So, what's your name, little human girl?"  
Vriska took a moment to register she had been asked a question, "Vriska..."  
"Very nice, I'll have to keep that in mind. I've already met you, Eridan. How about we play a game and if you win, I'll go to form 4."  
"What kind of game?"  
"The kind where you have to save your little friend, Vriska."  
"No, I don't think I wanna play that game. What about the one where we don't try to kill anyone?"  
"I don't think I know a game like that. Enlighten me."  
"Well... how about a board game?"  
"I don't really like board games, human. I'm done messing around here. I don't know why she desires to live in this wretched cave, but I'm done here."  
"Leaving will kill you."  
"That's a risk I'll have to take."  
"I'm serious. It isn't just a risk, it's the truth."

Vriska looked back and forth between the two, before noticing Eridan signaling her behind his back. He was jabbing his thumb her direction. She looked around before noticing a red button on the wall behind the flowers. She was slow as she reached out but she didn't manage to escape the Condesce's attention. The large creature turned towards her, "What are you doing, human?"  
"Nothing..."  
"I think you're up to something."  
Vriska wasted no time jumping from her seat and pressing the button, all the time wondering what it was going to do. The Condesce was suddenly enveloped in black light and a loud scream filled the room. Vriska watched with wide eyes as the giant beast was reduced to a fish that flopped on the floor for air. Eridan ran forward and picked up the little fish, putting it back in the pool where it belonged. Feferi wasn't talking at the moment and Vriska hoped she was okay.

This was really starting to feel like Alice in Wonderland. Vriska hoped she wasn't going crazy. The fish flipped to form 2 and Feferi coughed the water from her lungs, her clothes soaking wet as she sat in the pond, "What happened?"  
"I told you not to show her the damned forms. You would think you'd have learned by now."  
"Sorry. I forgot what form three was..."  
"Yeah, stick with 1, 2, and 7."  
"Sorry."  
Eridan leaned over the edge of the pond and held out a hand to pulled Feferi into a hug.

"I think we should leave now."  
"Wait, what about the left hallway. When we first came in I saw another hallway."  
Feferi looked over at Vriska with a sharp grin appearing on her face, "Do you wanna meet my custodian?"  
Vriska perked up, "Sure."  
She stood from where she was kneeling on the ground and walked over to the other two.

Feferi flashed more white light and she turned into something of a cross between the Condesce and her human form. She had gray skin and two small horns much like those of the Condesce. Her pink top was replaced with a black tank top with a pink Pisces symbol on it. Her skirt was smaller and more form fitting and she waved the other two after her as she walked barefoot back to the entrance room.

Vriska walked behind her with Eridan at the back. They came to a room with no light in it. Feferi held out a hand and a ball of light formed in her palm that lit up the room. They walked down a few long hallways until they came to a room with a cage bigger than anything Vriska had seen in her life. It couldn't be contained above ground though. The cage, even from how far down they were at the moment, had to be completely submerged underground.

The creature inside was absolutely terrifying. It was a mass of dark purple tentacles and skin that seemed to live and breathe all on its own. It had fins on multiple sides and as it turned around towards them, Vriska could see nothing but two giant eyes of an estimated twenty feet in diameter each.

She stepped back as the beast screeched loudly, shaking the entire underground, "Okay, you've seen her. I think we should probably leave now. She doesn't much like new company."  
Vriska wasted no time starting back down the hallways, the other two behind her.

Feferi took them back to the metal door she had first met them at.  
"I'm glad you could stop by! Come back any time!" She smiled at them and Eridan waved as they went back to the black hole they'd come in through.

"So, how are we getting back out of here again?"  
"Watch."  
Eridan went over to a wall across the room and hooked his finger in a hole, pulling a small sliding slab of rock to the side. Behind the slab was what looked like a doorknob. He twisted it and pulled a door-sized slab of rock out from the wall. A small staircase lay behind it, "Why didn't we take the stairs down? Wouldn't that have been a little less terrifying?"  
"Sorry Vris, these stairs only go up."  
"Wha-?"  
He pushed her into the stairway and pulled the slab shut behind them. They walked up a little way before they came to what looked like a waterfall that filled up the passageway, "How long can you hold your breath?"  
"I don't know, like a minute?"  
"Good enough."  
He held the boat in the pass and nodded towards it, "Get in."  
"I'm starting to feel like I'm on drugs with all the crazy shit that's happening."  
"Just get in, will ya? I can't hold this thing forever."

Vriska stepped into the boat, Eridan jumping in behind her, She was suddenly immersed in warm warm water and the boat was definitely moving. She had her eyes closed and only opened them when she came into contact with outside air. She took a deep breath and looked around, "What even was that?"  
"That was an underwater geyser. Pretty cool, huh?"  
"Sure, can we go back to the house now? I'm a bit tired of unbelievable adventures for today."  
"Sure thing."  
The boat glided along the water for a while until she caught site of the house boat, tied to the small dock just like they'd left it.

Eridan rowed to the ladder and helped Vriska get a grip on it before she climbed on deck, Eridan right behind her, heaving the heavy boat on board, grunting once its weight was out of his hands.  
He stashed it back where it came from in the sitting room and went downstairs to get dressed, Vriska waiting above deck.

She went downstairs when she heard the bathroom door squeak open.  
"You're welcome to my dresser. "I think that's been made clear at this point."  
"Vriska went to sift through his clothes once more, picking out a black tank top and khaki cargo pants. What was with this guy and khaki? She brushed it off and went to get dressed in the bathroom.

"What do we do now? What do you do out here with no internet or cellphone?"  
"Look around for a moment and then ask again."  
Vriska let her eyes scan the room before walking to one of the many book shelves lining the walls.  
She undid the latch on one of the beams that held the books in place, pulling it back on its hinge so she could pull out books and see what they were.

"They're mostly hand written by my ancestors... or, I guess a few are mine..."  
"Where are the ones you wrote?"  
Eridan was afraid of that question, "In the sitting room."  
Vriska wasted no time running upstairs and into the sitting room, sifting through the books on the shelf until she found a few that looked newer than the rest. She pulled them out to find 'Eridan Ampora' inscribed in the leather. She flipped one open and noted his neat handwriting. She latched the bookshelf again and sat down in the armchair.

_Many people ask me why I sit alone in the dark. I have no answer for them other than, "It feels safer here."_

"Oh my god what is this?!"  
Eridan opened the door to the sitting room, "It's fiction."  
Vriska held a hand on her chest, "Oh thank god, for a minute I thought you were some emo kid or something."  
"Not even."

Vriska read on.

_I could sit in this dark room my entire life and feel secure through every minute of it. But there's one thing that I don't like about the dark. I can't see the face of the one I love. Not in pictures or real life. It's hard to see in a mirror either. When I went into the light and I saw my reflection I asked, "Who is this boy looking back at me? It certainly isn't myself."_

I could never find it in myself to break the surface of that mirror though. I hoped maybe I could find myself looking into it one day and see a beautiful creature looking back at me, but that day never came.

I could only wonder if maybe I didn't look so sad in the eyes of the one I love. But I never did see the one I love again. He was six feet under and I was six feet above. My eyes wandered to the picture on my wall, and even though it was too dark to see it, I knew every inch of that picture like it was a part of me; and it was.

"This isn't half bad."  
"Thanks."  
Eridan's face was completely red.  
"Wait a s-"  
Vriska's voice trailed off and she looked back at the last paragraph.

_He was six feet under and I was six feet above._

She skimmed back over the first paragraph.

_"Who is this boy looking back at me? It certainly isn't myself."_

"Are you gay?"  
Eridan's face remained red but he facepalmed, "The character is gay."  
"That isn't what I asked."  
"No, I'm not gay."  
"Oh, alright."

Vriska couldn't help a smirk that arose on her face. She wasn't sure if she was smiling because he wasn't off-limits or if it was because he was writing gay fiction. The only thing that gay fiction could make her think of was the fanfiction Nepeta often wrote.

She found herself reading a lot of that book that night. Eridan sat in the dried off boat that sat in the corner, now filled to the top with pillows and blankets like a makeshift bed. He sipped at a cup of tea and watched her as she read.

"You know, I don't think I've ever met someone as interested in reading as you. Everyone else I know really dislikes reading; or writing for that matter."  
"I'm not a huge fan but I enjoy a good book every now and then. This one is actually a lot better than I thought it would be."  
"Really? I don't think much about old books I've written. I try to forget about them because they never turn out quite how I want them to."  
"Well this one is really good. I can't wait to see what the others are about."  
"One of the others isn't finished."  
"Well, what are you drinking tea for, get to your desk and finish it before I finish these two."

Eridan chuckled and swung his legs over the side of the boat, picking up one of the leather books and taking it downstairs. Vriska jumped up to go lay in the boat. She was definitely cashing in her air mattress for the boat. It was really soft and felt like she was drowning in a lake of feather and stuffing. She was halfway through the book in her hands but her eyes felt heavy and she couldn't help it when she fell asleep.

Eridan was just drying off the tip of the ink pen in his hands. He went upstairs to check on her and found her asleep in the boat he had stuffed with blankets. He picked up a blanket from the floor and tossed it over her.

"Night."  
He blew out the candle on the table and turned off the lamp by the arm chair before jogging back downstairs to go to sleep himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Vriska woke up to the sound of waves lapping against the side of the boat. She was about to turn over when she realized her hands were empty. She looked beside her to notice the book she'd been reading was closed. She flipped through it trying to find the page she was on, standing up and shuffling over to the door out to the deck.

She read over the lines in the book, trying to remember how far she'd gotten last night. She stopped at a page she didn't recognize and stuck her finger in between the two pages to mark her place. She looked up to see the sun just coming over the water. She squinted through the bright light and sighed. She would love to get used to this; but her time was short and she didn't want to get attached to the privilege of living free.

She heard the door open behind her and turned to see Eridan looking tired. His wet hair drooped over his face and he brushed it back off his forehead, "Morning."  
"Morning." Vriska smiled and rested two hands on her hips, leaning back to stretch out her muscles.  
"Wanna take a bath?"  
"Didn't know you had one."  
"Well it's a bit complicated. It's more of a hot tub than a bath. I keep propane downstairs and use that to heat up the water. The water is from the lake. It runs through a filter so it's always clean."  
"Pretty cool. I don't suppose all house boats are like this?"  
"I have a friend who helps me design stuff that we can make happen in real life."  
"Lead the way."

Eridan turned to go back downstairs, Vriska following. He grabbed a towel from a shelf and handed it to her, walking across the room to open a door next to the bathroom that Vriska had previously assumed was a closet. She stepped inside behind him and looked around in awe. It was impressive. And moody. She loved it. She could see herself spending hours down here.

The entire room was rather short; only a few inches shy of her head. The tub did indeed look like a hot tub. It had a comfy looking spot to lay or sit inside. The entire room was lit up with a blue light that made the entire place look kind of mystical. Eridan must have had something scented in there too because it smelled like a mix between flowers and cologne.  
"What's that smell?"

"Oh, sorry if it's too strong-"  
"No I like it."  
"Oh. Soap and shampoo."  
"It smells amazing."  
"Er, thanks."

Vriska couldn't tell if Eridan was blushing or the steam was making his cheeks red. She continued looking around, opening cabinets and such. She really liked the window. This part of the boat was completely submerged underwater and the tub had a porthole next to it that made it possible to see a number of things in the clear blue water. Fish didn't seem to be too shy around the boat. They came right up to the window, looking inside and looking just as curious as Vriska.

"Well, anyway, There's fresh soap in the cabinet and if you want a different kind of shampoo or conditioner, there are a lot of different kinds in there too. If you want, I can get some clothes and leave them inside the door."  
"That would be awesome. I am officially in love with this room, by the way. See ya tomorrow."  
Vriska tossed the towel on a chair in the corner and opened up the cabinet again to look through the supplies with more attention. Eridan turned down the small area she considered a small hallway and opened the bathroom door to leave. As soon as the door was shut she wasted no time pulling her shirt off. She thought of something then.

She held the shirt over her chest and leaned out the door, "What about underwear?"  
Eridan turned around from the dresser, "Umm... I don't know?"  
He seemed sincerely stumped.  
"Well... how do you usually wash your clothes?"  
"I wait until there's a bunch and make a stop at a laundromat."  
"Well I could wash them in here. It's filtered constantly, right?"  
Eridan nodded, "That works."  
He turned back around to the dresser and Vriska went back inside the bathroom, pulling her clothes off completely. She wrapped the towel around her exposed waist and washed her bikini quickly, hanging it over a towel bar to dry. She was about to step into the tub when she noticed a radio sitting under the chair her towel was bundled up on. She knelt down and pulled it out to see if there was a CD inside. She didn't assume there was any radio signal out here. She popped the top open to see a black disc with some name on it. She shut the top and checked the volume, looking towards the door before pressing play. She was surprised to hear piano music. She nodded approvingly before standing and stepping into the tub. It was just as warm as she would have thought. It seemed at least a hundred degrees. The warmth was welcomed. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the warm water and leaned back.

She really liked this CD and could definitely see why he had it in here. It was relaxing and before she knew it, she was humming along to it. She leaned back so she was facing the porthole, watching the colorful fish that swam around outside. They looked right at her and part of her wished she could swim outside with them. She also knew that if she did that they would almost certainly swim away.

Her eyes were drawn back to the cabinet and all of the soaps inside. She really wanted to use the same ones Eridan had used. The mix of the two scents were godly. She looked over to the small table in the corner next to the tub and saw the bottles that were most recently used. There was only one bottle that was wet though. She grabbed it and opened the lid, inhaling the musky scent that wafted out.

She poured a bunch in her hand, lathering it in her hair and feeling glad that she could get her hair cleaned. She leaned her head back and scrubbed at the suds, trying to get them from her hair. She lifted her head after a minute of running her fingers through it. She wrung her hair out and leaned over to the cabinet, opening it and looking through it for the matching bottle of conditioner. She found it and pulled it out, conditioning her hair and setting the bottle by the shampoo for the next time she needed a bath. She examined the bar of soap Eridan used to see a 'Dove' logo barely visible on it's surface. She searched the cabinet again, trying to find the correct box.

She heard the door squeak open and turned her eyes in its direction. She heard the sound of clothes being set on the floor and the door squeaking shut. She finally spotted the box of 'Dove' on the top shelf and reached up to grab it. Once finished washing, she leaned on the edge of the tub. She really didn't want to leave the tub yet but her fingers were starting to absorb water. She hated that. She stood reluctantly and grabbed her towel, drying herself off as best she could before stepping onto the bathroom carpet.

She could hear Eridan walking around above deck. Once in her dry bikini she looked down to see what Eridan had picked out for her. She unfolded the shirt to see a faded light purple button-up with the sleeves buttoned back to elbow length. She slid into it, the crisp material felt nice. She picked up some black jeans that would probably need a belt and slid them on under the loose shirt. She hit 'stop' on the radio and opened the bathroom door, peering out into Eridan's room to see he was still above. She went over to his dresser and opened the top drawer to grab a belt. She found a framed photo sitting on top of a pile of socks and glanced at it before picking up a belt that would match the outfit. She did a double-take and stared at the picture. It was a picture of a man with a woman in his arms. They stood in front of a mansion. She wondered about who they were but upon closer inspection she could see that the man had many of Eridan's features; or vice versa.

She pulled out the belt and shut the drawer just as Eridan came down the stairs, "Oh you're out."  
"Yeah, that bath is amazing."  
She lifted the bottom of the shirt to slide the belt through one of the loops on Eridan's jeans.  
"Oh, sorry, are those too big?"  
"Not much. They're fine."

Vriska started upstairs and went back into the sitting room before remembering she left her book downstairs on the table. She went back down to get it and noticed Eridan was writing in the unfinished book.  
"I see you took my advice."  
"Why not? I have nothing else to do, really."

Vriska took the book upstairs with her and sat down in the boat full of blankets and pillows. She began reading again. Hours passed in silence. She was nearing the end of the chapter she was on when she heard a knock on the door. She looked up to see Eridan through the window in the door. She was curious why he was knocking but stood up to open the door nonetheless.

"Yeah? You don't have to knock you know."  
"Well I though I should since this is kind of your room now."  
"Not really, it's still just a sitting room. Anyway, what's up?"  
"I was just wondering if you wanted to go fishing with me. If you wanna keep reading that's fine."  
"No, I will."  
"Okay."

Vriska set her book down and followed Eridan to the back of the boat where they went fishing yesterday. He had set up a bucket by the wall and tied a rope through the handle to keep it in place. Both fishing rods rested where they left them last night. Vriska picked hers up and sat down in its place, waiting for Eridan to pull out the bait. He slid the tackle box to sit next to him and handed Vriska a jar of bright orange bait. She examined it closely, "Why is there glitter in this? That doesn't look very appetizing."  
"It does to a fish."  
"Fish need to try steak."  
"I think that would be some really expensive bait."  
"Yes it would be."

She stuck a bright orange marshmallow to the hook and cast off. She made herself comfortable watching Eridan fiddle with his line. He cast off and leaned back against the wall behind them. He must have felt her eyes on him because he looked over at her. Vriska turned her eyes quickly back to the bobber at the end of her line.

She panicked when she felt a small jolt at the end of her line. She sat up straighter and felt Eridan watching her.

"My line moved..."  
"Does it feel like something is knocking against it?"  
"Yeah..."  
"Wait until you feel a small pull and then pull back really hard on the pole."  
"Okay..."

Vriska waited until she could feel a small tugging at the end of her line and then pulled back like commanded. The tugging became more incessant and she began to reel in her line. The line was tight and there was definitely something hooked. She stared intently at her line, her mouth agape as she turned the reel. She was sure she must have something terribly small. She'd never been fishing before, there was no way she'd caught something of a decent size. Eridan was on his hands and knees at the edge of the boat, hands gripping the railing tightly as he watched the water.

"Holy mackerel, that thing is huge!"  
"This is no time for fish puns."  
"This is the perfect time for fish puns."

Vriska's line was getting closer to the boat and she gasped when the hook and fish broke the surface of the water. It was huge indeed. It looked almost a foot and a half long. She paused for a second before reeling it the rest of the way in. She grabbed at it, her fingers slipping over his bony scales. She had never touched a fresh fish and it wasn't what she expected. It wasn't soft like she thought it would be. It felt more like a skeleton covered in slime. She tried again to grab it. Eridan was pulling at the end of her fishing pole and tried to detach the fish from the hook.

"Here, I've got it."  
Vriska took the bucket from where it sat and slid the pole so the fish was closer to her. It wriggled back and forth violently and Eridan looked at it nervously. She was just about to free the hook from its mouth when its body made one final protest and flopped onto the deck of the boat. Eridan made a grab for it but it was already back in the water. He watched after it, mouth hanging open.

Vriska stared at the rippling surface of the water and dropped her pole on the deck. She couldn't believe she had let it get away. She should have put it in the bucket before getting the hook from its mouth. She leaned back against the wall and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on one and crossing her arms over her legs.

"Vris... it's fine, it was just a fish."  
She made no move to reply."  
"You'll catch another one."  
He was right. She probably would catch another one. But it would never be her first fish. It would be her second, or third.

Eridan sighed and cast off again, his line long since gone limp, the bobber floating a few feet from the boat. He reeled in a few fish on the smaller side, putting them in the bucket and finally reeling his line in and tightening the hook to one of the loops on the pole. He lay it down and stood up. He was about to turn around and pick up the bucket but he noticed Vriska looked worse than before. She had continued looking out over the water but now there were tear streaks down her face. Eridan picked up her pole and put it back against the wall with his. He leaned down on his knees and looked her in the eyes, "It's just one fish."  
"It was my first fish."

Eridan should have expected this. He grinned, "Well here's a proposition. It didn't even make it to the bucket. So really, you haven't even caught one yet. I won't count him if you won't."

She tried to hold back a grin but failed. He stood up and held out a hand which she took thankfully. He pulled her up and grabbed the bucket of dinner. They walked back to the sitting room and he started up the wood stove. Vriska sat down in the boat and marveled at the stove. She had watched him cook last night but it was still a wonder to her all of the things he could keep in one houseboat.

He gutted the fish out on the deck and brought them back in to fry on the heated skillet. He had a pot on the back of the stove which she hadn't noticed he put there. She wondered what was inside but decided to stay surprised. She went back to reading and just as he was finishing setting the table she slammed it shut.

"Fin!"  
"All done?"  
"Yep. And I even managed to fit a fish pun in my grand finale."  
Eridan smirked, "I see you did. Well you have nice timing. Dinner is also finished."  
Vriska swung her legs over the side of the boat and stood up just to sit back down in one of the white chairs. Eridan picked up her plate and served her both the fish and whatever was in the pot on the back of the stove. While she had been reading he had apparently added another one. She was pleasantly surprised to see mashed potatoes and corn in addition to today's catch.

"I noticed you didn't touch much of your fish last night so I cooked up some sides. I hope I picked something you like."  
"I love both. Thank you."  
"No thanks needed. I enjoy having company. It does get a bit lonely living all alone. Honestly, I'm kind of surprised at my luck. I could have ended up with someone who was completely undesirable to room with. Between the time I picked them up and the time I have to drop them off."

Vriska nodded and picked up her fork, cutting into the fish and eating a bite. It was cooked differently this time and she liked it more than last time. It had more flavor and she glanced at the prep table next to the stove to see squeezed lemons lying next to the cutting board.

The room was dark from the lack of lamps turned on at the moment. Eridan seemed to notice this too because he stood and opened some shutters above the boat Vriska used as a bed. She hadn't really noticed them there. They opened to reveal bright moonlight and stars. She decided she would leave those open. She liked that she would be able to see the stars while she was falling asleep.

They finished dinner with Eridan telling Vriska about the different types of fish that could be found in their area. Vriska tried to absorb every bit of the information and enjoyed her dinner to the fullest. She was getting tired though and the sound of going to sleep was a nice one. She helped Eridan clean off the table, whispering 'goodnight' as he left the room to go downstairs. She lay down in her bed, watching the stars as she drifted off.

The door opened and the sun filtered in through the door in addition to the light already coming through the window.  
"Morning."  
Vriska squinted her eyes and sat up, shielding the light from view.

"Hey, what time is it?"  
"8 o' clock."  
"Okay. What should we do today? Are you going to write more? I'm halfway done with the two books available and I'm gonna need more reading material."  
"We're docked."  
"What?"  
"We just got to the docking in Port Beran."  
"We're in Port Beran?"  
"Yep."  
"Okay. We should really buy some cereal by the way. Toast isn't really my favorite."

There was an awkward silence in the room as Eridan pulled his coat on. He looked at Vriska without knowing what to say, "Shouldn't you call your friend?"  
Vriska realized what he meant. She had almost forgotten that this wasn't actually her home. This wasn't actually her life. Today she would have to go home.


	4. Chapter 4

She sat at the white table picking at her toast. She didn't know what to say anymore. Every possible word had died in her throat. She looked down at her plate covered in cinnamon sugar. She set the piece of toast down and looked up at Eridan, "What do I wear?"

She had a good point that Eridan hadn't thought of. Vriska came on board in nothing but a bikini. She would have to wear some of his clothes home. He left the room leaving Vriska to wonder if she'd done something wrong. She stared at the toast on her plate. She'd completely lost her appetite. She picked up the plate and dumped the toast in the trash, setting the plate on the stack from dinner last night.

Eridan came back in with a stack of clothes, "These are too small for me, you can keep them."  
"Thanks."  
She took the stack and went downstairs to change in the bathroom. They fit nicely. She sighed and turned away from the mirror.

He met her on deck and held her hand while she stepped onto the dock. She had only been to Port Beran once a long time ago. She didn't even remember what for. It was hours away from her house.

She followed Eridan down the dock. He turned onto a sidewalk and they continued until he stopped at a bus stop. Vriska looked up at him. He seemed emotionless. She looked at the ground. She had finally made a friend and now she would have to leave him and all ways of contacting him.

A few minutes passed before a bus pulled to a stop, its exhaust stinking up the air and making Vriska scrunch up her nose. Eridan stepped onto the bus stairs and handed the man a ticket. He punched two holes in it and Vriska followed him to seat in the back. He leaned on his hand and stared out the window, leaving her to sit awkwardly with her hands folded in her lap. She fiddled with her fingers, twisting them and wringing her hands. She tapped the base of the bench in front of her with her foot.

The bus finally jolted to a stop and she waited to see if Eridan was getting up. He scooted over and motioned for her to stand. This was it. This was the stop. She stood and shoved her way past the crowding civilians to the exit. It was refreshing and chilling at the same time when she stepped out into fresh air. She noticed they were in front of a grocery store. Eridan led her to the sidewalk in front. He shoved a hand in his pocket and held out a hand.

He dropped a few quarters into her palm and walked inside the store. She noticed a few pay phones attached to the cement wall. She pressed a few numbers, dial tone buzzing in her ear.

"Hello?"  
"Terezi?"  
"Who is this?"  
"It's Vriska."  
"... Vriska?"  
"Yeah, Vriska."  
"You mean, you're okay?!"  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
"This isn't a prank call right?"  
"Why would it be. Is death funny to someone who has your number?"  
"I don't know. I just can't believe you're okay."  
Vriska could hear what sounded like sniffling from the other side.  
"Don't cry. I'm fine."  
"What happened to you?"  
"I got a cramp. I washed up on shore and some guy found me and took me to recoop at his house."  
"Wow... is he hot?"  
"He isn't half bad if I do say so myself."  
"So did you get his number?"  
"... Yeah..."  
"Awesome! Are you guys going out or something?"  
"Not really. He's a different kind of guy; not the usual asshole. He's a lot nicer. He acts like himself."  
"Sounds like a keeper."  
"Well... we'll see."  
"So where are you? When are you coming home."  
Vriska's breath caught in her throat.  
"I don't really know where I am. I-"  
"You didn't ask?"  
"Well I-"  
"Oh my god I have to tell your parents! They're a mess!"  
"Yeah, I can imagine."  
"When are you coming home?"  
"..." Vriska held her breath.

It all rushed at her in that moment. She remembered sitting at the white table eating potatoes and corn. She remembered joking with Eridan about finishing his book. The bathing room with the window that seemed to look into another world. The nights they sat on the back of the boat at sunset and cast off. She still hadn't caught her first fish.

She hadn't even thought of it until now but two nights ago... She hadn't had a blanket on when she fell asleep reading.

"Vris? You there?"

She let out the breath she held, "I'm not coming home Ter."  
There was no noise on the other end.  
"Look, I'm turning eighteen in a couple months. I'm already graduated. I lost my job a couple weeks ago. I don't want to give up my life right here just to go back to something I wasn't happy with. I'm sor-"  
Click.  
"-ry..."

She slammed the phone back on the hook and leaned against the dirty brick wall. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Eridan looking a bit blown away.

"What's so much better about living alone in a boat?"  
"Everything."  
She met his gaze and noticed the withheld turn of his lips. She smiled at him and he couldn't hold his smile back any longer.  
"I hope you don't mind the company. I can try to get a job while we're docked if you need help paying for groceries."

"That's far from necessary and as for the company... there's no one I'd rather have occupying my upstairs."  
Vriska smiled and pulled him into a hug. He was awkward but it added to his charm. He was hesitant before wrapping his arms loosely around her back. She pulled back and looked at the store doors, "We should get some food, right?"  
"Yep. I was gonna go get it while you were on the phone but I forgot my wallet is in that jacket."  
"Oh, here."  
She dug around in the inside pocket and handed him his wallet before following him inside.

"I don't suppose I get a say in our snack stash?"  
"I have no idea what you like. You'll have to teach me your preferences. And what is this about me being nicer than other guys? I'm the most awkward person alive."  
"Awkward, yes; but genuine."  
"Well I'm glad I'm enjoyable."  
"Okay we need some cookies or something. Don't you ever buy sweets?"  
"Not really."  
"And why on earth not?"  
Eridan shrugged, "Just never really thought about it."  
"Oh come on, you don't ever crave any chocolate or anything?"

"Yeah, we're getting fudge."  
"I haven't had fudge in years."  
"You won't be able to say that anymore."

Vriska rushed off to the bakery part of the store, Eridan following as quickly as possible. She looked around in a frenzy, drooling over the confections. Eridan watched as a stack of sweets formed a pile in the bottom of the cart. He would object but the look of ecstasy on her face was one he enjoyed seeing. She seemed a little more upbeat since she talked to her friend. Maybe she was feeling that sense of freedom you get when you first let go of the things holding you down on land.

Eridan remembered the first day out of the house. It was bliss; knowing he could go wherever he wanted with nothing tying him to the land.

Vriska rested on the end of the basket and stared at him until he realized he wasn't moving. His mind came back to the present and he caught her eyes, "Oh... done?"  
"Yeah. What else do we need?"  
"I think we should probably buy you some clothes."  
"Eridan that's sweet of you but clothes are expensive."  
"Getting attached to my wardrobe?"  
"Maybe a little."  
Vriska chuckled and turned towards the clothing section on the other side of the store.  
"If you insist."  
Eridan smirked and made a loop with the cart, pushing it away from the bakery and towards the clothing.

The first thing Vriska went for was the underwear. She grabbed a couple packs along with a proper bra and held it against her stomach. Eridan was waiting awkwardly at the end of the isle, his face bright red and his gaze turned to the shirts across the walkway. She smirked at his back and walked into his line of sight, trying to find suitable clothing. She used to wear tight clothes like the other girls she knew. The idea struck her as completely disgusting. She had grown quickly attached to the shorts and slightly loose t-shirts. She didn't relish the idea of going back to skin-tight blouses and skinny jeans.

She scanned the shirts for something casual, something she could wear comfortably while at sea. Something light that would keep the hot air out. Something attractive but at the same time comfortable. She stopped her gaze on a dress. It was short. Something scandalous that she would never be caught dead in... by her classmates. She stared at it. It wasn't what she would call low-cut, but at the same time, gave her lots of room. It had spaghetti straps that would keep her cool in the hot air. It would go perfectly with some leggings.

She knew a girl from her school who was always wearing leggings. She had seen her teased for it and always wondered what the big deal was. She wasn't wearing skinny jeans or booty shorts but she was still sexy. Vriska had wanted to wear her own pair to school but the idea of ruining her reputation was too much just to wear some leggings to school. They were so comfortable. They would be perfect with that dress and she didn't know what about it had seized her mind so that she just stared at it like this but it was something she had to have.

Eridan was watching her. Vriska was frozen at the edge of the clothes section, just staring straight forward. He let his eyes try to connect between her gaze and whatever it was she was looking at. They stopped on a white dress with purple trimming. The bottom trim was cut and sewn to look like waves all along the bottom edge. If this was what she wanted, he would buy it, but it seemed like she had no intention of asking. She just stared.

He tapped her on the shoulder, "You like that? I'll get it for you..."  
She looked up, surprised, "Oh... Yeah I really like it. Do you?"  
He seemed surprised she'd asked his opinion, "Yeah, it's beautiful."  
She wasted no time jogging forward and looking through the line of them for one her size. She loved it. There was something it reminded her of but she couldn't put her finger on it. It flared from the chest down, the white material was soft, two more thin layers beneath the top with laced ends. She found one in her size and took it off the rack, walking it over to the cart.

"I need some leggings to go with this. Are you sure this isn't too expensive?"  
"Nothing is too expensive."  
"That's not true. There's always something too expensive for everyone."  
"Nothing practical."

Vriska found an interesting thought making its home in her mind and she looked out the corners of her eyes. Eridan seemed to notice this, "What is it?"  
"Just an idea. Nothing really practical."  
He smirked, "What is it?"  
"Could... never mind, it would be rude"  
"You want me to buy you something?"  
"Well... in a way."  
"Explain."  
"Is it possible that you could loan me a hundred dollars?"  
"For what?"  
"That's a secret."  
"You've piqued my curiosity."  
"Well you can loan it to me or you can not. It's your choice."  
"Of course I will. Will I ever know what you're buying?"  
"Maybe..."

Eridan pulled out his wallet and handed her a hundred in cash, "You said you needed leggings?"  
"Yes sir."  
She led him to the other side of the clothing section and found a rack of leggings. She pulled a black pair and a purple pair from the rack and tossed them in the cart, "Meet me by the payphones."  
"Deal."

Eridan watched her stock off towards the food section and smiled in wonder and curiosity. He turned the basket around and headed to the check-out, paying for their groceries and the clothes Vriska had picked out. He took the few bags and walked off to the exit door, leaning against the brick wall by the phones.

He waited for Vriska patiently but it had been almost thirty minutes and he could only entertain himself with adding up the numbers on license plates for so long. He was about to stand and go find her when he heard the door open and looked up to see her holding a cardboard box with packing tape holding it closed. She smiled, "Ready to go?"  
"I am if you are."

He stood and handed her a bag to carry, walking to the bus stop and sitting on the bench. He checked his watch and looked at the sign next to the bench.

Bus comes every hour  
from 4am to 4pm  
Comes every half hour from  
4:30pm to 10pm

His watch said it was 2:46pm. They had some time to kill. He looked down at the box in Vriska's lap, surprised when she spoke up, "So why'd you loan me a hundred dollars? It's a bit much when you don't even know what I'm buying."  
"I trust you. I'm sure you have a reason for keeping it a secret. Money isn't hard for me to get..."  
"...You don't rob banks for a living do you?"  
He gave her a look and she tried not to smile.  
"No. I know you saw the picture in my dresser."  
"Yeah... Are those your parents?"  
"Yep."  
"Do you ever visit them?"  
"... No."  
"Were you mad at them when you moved out?"  
"No."  
"They look nice."  
"They were."  
"Were?"  
"I suppose it's story time."  
"Okay..."

Eridan set the bag down under the bench and turned to face her.  
"When I was eighteen I was living at home. My parents were rich. My dad owned a very successful fishing company in the east. I was living off of them like a spoiled brat. I expected I would get everything my way. I thought everything that was his was rightfully mine. I was a disgusting excuse for a human and frankly I'm ashamed I was every like that. I thought... I thought I was better than everyone and I was that rich snob that everyone would talk about because I made fun of kids who had less money than me. I was a real bitch. I got what was coming to me. I was kicked out from the time I was sixteen until I was almost eighteen. I was staying at some friend's apartment for that time. I'm surprised I even had a friend. I guess it isn't too surprising since he was a rich snob like me. I went back to my house one day to get an old letter I needed from my bedroom. I found out our house had a fire. My parents died along with everything in the house that wasn't in a safe.

"The safes were looked through by the people in charge of my parents' funeral and all that stuff. I talked to the bank about my inheritance. I was still greedy even after finding out they were dead. I was told I didn't get the money until I turned eighteen and as such, I ended up with nothing. My roommate was kicked from his apartment when he was caught doing drugs there during a drug bust. All of the stuff I owned that was in the apartment was taken along with all of his stuff. His parents took it all and made him come home. He was only seventeen at the time so they still had control over him. He was grounded until he turned eighteen. That was about three or four months.

"I lost contact with him in that time and ended up living on the streets. I learned a thing or two. I learned how to take care of myself, and I learned that I was nothing without money. I was just a loser with some shiny rings on his fingers and a fat paycheck waiting for his eighteenth birthday to come around so he could keep relying on his dead parents to feed him everything. Well I got the crap beaten out of me and ended up in the hospital. The inheritance was dipped into to pay for my hospital bill and by the time I got out of there, I was a new man, I was eighteen, and I had taken up a hobby of writing. There isn't much else you can do when you're in a body cast from a broken leg.

"I took the inheritance and decided to do the best thing for everyone else. First, I donated a nice sum of it to charity. I met a lot of nice people on the streets who deserved more than what they got. Second, I did a nice favor for society and bought a boat so I wouldn't have to corrupt society with my presence."

He was grabbing the bags under the bench and standing now. He looked ashamed to remember the past but Vriska understood. She could understand everything he was saying. She had no reason to judge him for the things he did in his past, he'd already been judged; most harshly, by himself.

He had learned his lesson and he wasn't the same anymore. He might be rich but she could see all on her own that he had no plans of showing it off anymore.

She followed him to the seat at the back of the bus where they sat before. It was a thirty minute ride of silence back to the docks where the boat was tied up. He untied it after Vriska was inside with the groceries and hopped on deck. He turned on the motor and directed it back out to the water. He probably had the current locations memorized after being out on the water for so many years. He flipped the motor off. They were far off now, the docks and land hardly visible.

She met him in the 'kitchen' to put away the food. She grabbed him by the shoulders, "You know, I understand why you're ashamed of yourself. I also want you to be perfectly aware that I don't care about your past. I can tell you've changed. Anyone who knew you then would know you've changed if they saw you. Forget about the past. I know you must really hate yourself sometimes for all the stuff you did. Forget it."

He looked surprised at her. She leaned forward and kissed him. He jumped in surprise but kissed back. Her hands pulled on his neck. She had wanted to do this for a day or so now. He was asking for it with that cute smile and his cute hair and his awkwardness all over the place. It was like a disease and after days of spending time with him on a boat that disease was impossible for her to fight off anymore.

She supposed she didn't mind having a disease if her symptoms were only kissing and the inability to stop smiling around him. She would just have to live with it and hope it didn't kill her.


	5. Chapter 5

Their eyes met. Her stomach clenched while he looked all too seriously at her. She must have looked pretty scared until his mouth turned up in a smile. She smiled back, her breath catching when he leaned down to kiss her again. It was thrilling, kissing someone. She had played truth or dare before but... this was different. She tried to keep her status to single so she could keep up her golden GPA but school was out so she didn't see any reason not to let herself enjoy life a little. She felt like her life had been woven tightly and Eridan was pulling at all of the stitches and loosening them up, breaking a few. She felt like something about being with him here was right. It made her feel like she could do anything or be anywhere.

She felt arms tightening around her waist and reached her hands up to rest on her shoulders. Their tongues touched and she wondered over it. What no one told you in high school was that kissing is weird. It feels like the most awkward thing in the world until you've gotten used to it. She quickly adjusted and pulled her lips away from his, breath heavy.

"So... we have the rest of who knows how long to live out on this lake. What next?"

Eridan pursed his lips, "Well we could go swimming."

"That we could."

Eridan went downstairs and Vriska went out to the deck, stripping off the borrowed shirt and pants. She waited with her feet hanging in the water until Eridan came back in his swim trunks. She stood and poked a finger in his chest, "I don't suppose you like to race."

"Race? Of course."

"Well if you think you can beat me, you have another thing coming."

"Do I really?"

"Absolu-"

Eridan's hands met Vriska's shoulders and the next thing she knew she was in freezing cold water. She struggled to the surface, "That was mean! Pull me up."

She grabbed the edge of the boat with one hand and held another up for Eridan to grab. She felt his fingers latch around her wrist and pulled hard. A resounding splash behind her made her smirk. She turned around to see Eridan swimming to the surface.

"You are lucky I left my glasses inside."

"Yeah well, you're lucky I left my dignity at home."

"Pff."

Water pulled Eridan's hair flat, the little strip of dark purple drooping onto his forehead.

He was only inches away and she smirked and blew in his face, "You're hair is everywhere."

"Well excuse me for not having it in a pony tail."

They stared at each other for a minute until his hands found themselves on either side of her head, "So... What's in the box?"

"Oh you mean the hundred dollar box?"

"Yeah, that."

"Well I guess you'll just have to wait and find out."

"How long do I have to wait?"

"That's all up to the decisions you make."

"Which decisions?"

"I dunno. I guess you'll find out that when you find out what's in the box."

"Damnit. You're killin me Vris."

"I'm sure I'm not."

"You are."

"Well I guess I'd better save you before it's too late."

She kissed his wet lips. The water running down his face met with her tongue when she opened her mouth. She realized she wasn't paying attention and she was starting to sink a few inches. She pulled back and pulled herself up with a hand on the bottom of one of the railings.

"So how about that race?"

Vriska laughed, "Will the boat stay here?"

"It's in a current, it doesn't move very fast. Only moves about a hundred feet every hour. I'm sure you can swim that far."

"Yeah."

"Right. So where are we racing to?"

Vriska looked around, "I don't see any landmarks. We'll have to swim out together and then race back to the boat."

"Sounds like a plan."

The two swam together about a mile out. Vriska turned around to see the boat was small now. She pointed at it, "Alright, on three."

"Wait wait wait. I need to tell you something first."

"Make it fast the water is cold."

"I don't want you to feel too bad it spoils your dinner when I beat you."

"Oh you're kidding me."

"No. I've lived on the water for three years, I think I know how to swim."

"I've been taking swim classes for years."

"Well I guess we'll just have to see which one pays off more."

"This reminds me of the day I got pulled under."

"You mean when you were with your friend?"

"Yeah. Racing was what got me too close to that custodian thing."

"Hm. Well don't worry about drowning, I'm sure you'll be right behind me and I can pull you up if you start to sink."

"Really funny."

"I thought so."

"1! 2! 3-"

She pushed forward and kicked. Eridan couldn't see where she was but he swam towards the blurry shape of the boat like his life depended on it.

Vriska looked up to see clear water ahead of her. She smirked before shoving her head underwater once more, arms moving fast to pull her forward. She grabbed onto the edge of the boat once she got there, pushing above the surface and gasping for air. She looked around to see Eridan was right behind her the entire time. He broke the surface and made a pouting face.

"Cheater."

"Loser."

"Rude."

"I know."

They both laughed and swam around the side of the boat to the ladder.

Vriska pulled herself up, Eridan soon after. She sat on the deck while Eridan went downstairs. He came back up with two towels and laid them out on deck. Vriska picked the blue one and laid down on it, the sun hitting her skin and the wind chilling her. She looked over at Eridan. He had his glasses back on, eyes closed, and arms behind his head. She reached over and poked him in the side, causing him to jolt away from her, eyes opening, "What was that for?"

"Dunno. Your side was just right there and all exposed and I felt like you were asking to be poked."

He smirked and sat up, staring at her. She already knew he was thinking of tickling her. It wasn't much of a secret with the way his eyes kept darting between her sides and her eyes.

"Remember. Good decisions."

She laid back down and heard him sigh, "You are so unfair sometimes."

"I know."

She stood and grabbed the towel, drying the cold water from herself and going into the sitting room. She dug through the cupboard until she found the box of cookies shed bought. They were pale white with pastel purple frosting put on thick. She opened the box, grabbing a plate and putting a few on it. She put the rest back in the cupboard and grabbed the box of fudge, cutting off a chunk and putting that on the plate. She went back outside, the plate behind her back and a scarf in hand.

"Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Trust me."

"Okay."

His eyes closed and she walked towards him, folding the scarf the long way and pressing it over his eyes, lifting his head and crisscrossing it in back so it wouldn't come off while he was laying down. She pressed her fingers to his jawline so his mouth opened a little. He let out a breathy laugh. She grabbed a cookie and broke a piece off, putting it in his mouth. He ate it with a smile, "What are you doing?"

"What was that?"

"It tasted like those bright overly sweet looking cookies you bought at the store."

"Correct."

"Are we playing a taste testing game?"

"You could call it that."

"That sounds like I'm missing something."

"Every bite you eat, I get to ask a question."

"Do we get to switch after you're done asking questions?"

"Possibly."

"Proceed."

"You kissed me back earlier. In both cases."

"I did."

"What's your motive?"

"My motive?"

"Yeah."

Eridan laughed, "My motive is responding to a kiss you started all on your own."

Vriska nodded and pulled off another bite from the cookie putting it in his mouth for him to eat.

"So what's with the blindfold?"

"I'm asking the questions here."

"Are you a spy trying to infiltrate the system?"

"Maybe."

Vriska stretched her legs out to get more comfortable, "Alright, how many people have you dated?"

"I thought it was obvious."

"Is it?"

"I was a huge asshole and I've lived on a lake for the last three years. None."

Vriska nodded approvingly, "Cool."

"Not really."

"What? Are you one of those guys who gets all ashamed because he's never gotten laid or something?"

"Not usually. I just feel a little out of it around you."

"Why? Because I've had sex with every guy I've dated?"

He swallowed, "I... That's a good reason to be a little embarrassed..."

"I said that because that's probably what you were thinking."

"I didn't think that."

"Well... I guess in a sense it's true."

"Is it or isn't it?"

"It is. I've had sex with every guy I've dated."

"So you're like, an expert or something?"

"Not even."

"I'm really confused."

"I haven't had a boyfriend."

"Oh. I guess it makes sense now."

"Yep. Don't be all shy about sex. We're both virgins."

"Okay..."

Eridan's cheeks were red and she gave him another chunk of cookie.

"So, what are your feelings. I suppose I should ask before I just keep kissing you."

"Wow you're straightforward."

"I try my best."

"I... Well..."

"It's almost a yes or no question."

"it is?"

"Yeah."

"What's the question that involves a yes or no?"

"Do you like me or not?"

"Yes."

Vriska gave a satisfied smile that Eridan couldn't see.

"Well with that out in the air this game could get pretty fun."

"Oh god, what are you going to make me answer?"

"I could think of a multitude of things."

Eridan sighed, defeated.

"So... What size bra do you think I wear?"

"I'm wearing a blindfold."

"Come on, you had to have looked before, even on accident. Even a modest gentleman can't ignore what's right in front of him."

"Fine... C?"

"Bingo."

"Do I get extra cookie this time for guessing right?"

He waited for an answer but her only response was to give him another bite of the sweet. He ate it and sighed, "When is it my turn?"

"That all depends."

"On what?"

"Decisions."

"Why do you have to be so vague about the decisions?"

"Because making it easy would be no fun."

"Fine. Next question?"

Vriska leaned on her arm and mulled over which one to ask next.

"Give me a list of your kinks."

"I don't have an-"

"Don't lie. Lying is a bad decision."

Eridan huffed indignantly.

"I'm waiting."

"How specific do I have to be?"

"Down to the very word and action."

"How do I know about actions? I'm a virgin."

"Oh I'm sure you have some imagination."

"..." His voice was lowered to a whisper, "Dirty talking, rough foreplay, domination, water, roleplay, etc."

"That wasn't specified down to the word."

"But I don't really know. I mean, I've never been... talked to like that."

"So really it's just something you'd like to try. Plus, I suppose if I knew every sentence that got you where I wanted you, it wouldn't be much of an adventure."

"Yeah... What next?"

"Your plans for the rest of the summer."

"The same thing I do every summer. Swim, write, read, and I guess now I'm socializing while doing all of those things."

"Haven't you thought of any other things you might wanna do?"

"Are you asking me on a date and or asking me to have sex with you?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"I like how blunt you are."

"Thanks, I like how well you take my bluntness."

Vriska crossed her legs and leaned her chin in her hand. Eridan took a moment to realize he hadn't answered her question.

"Um... I suppose the thought has crossed my mind."

"How long did it cross your mind?"

"I haven't gotten any cookies in a while."

Vriska picked up the last piece from the plate and dropped it in his open mouth. She took the fudge and bit off a piece, eating it slowly.

"How long did it cross your mind?"

"Maybe for a while."

"How long a while?"

"A long while."

"How long is a long while?"

"You sure are asking a lot of questions with no pay-up."

"And you sure are giving some vague answers."

"Now you understand."

"The difference is," Vriska slid from her seat to next to where Eridan lay, "I-"

She swung a leg over to his other side, "I don't tolerate disobedience."

"What are you gonna do to me? Feed me to death?"

"No. That's not a kink on my to-do list and I hope to god it isn't one of yours that you conveniently left off your rather small list."

"I didn't leave anything off. Not that I'm aware of."

"Vriska wrapped her fingers around the back of his neck and pulled up, "How long is a long while?"

"Long enough."

Vriska smirked and pulled him to a sitting position, hands grabbing at the scarf and tying a knot before it could slip from his face. She put her lips right by his ear, "You're disgusting."

She let out a breathy laugh before leaning away from his ear and pressing her lips to his. He pushed back and She felt a tongue along the inside of her cheek. Her entire mouth tasted of chocolate fudge.

"You've been holding out on me. What else did you bring out here to bribe me for answers?"

"Just the cookies. The fudge was mine all along."

"And you say I'm disgusting. That's traitorous."

"So is that."

She rolled her hips on his and a low moan tumbled from his mouth, "I would hardly say I'm a traitor. I'm still on your side."

"How am I going to make you prove your trust?"

"I'll answer more questions."

"I don't know if I have anymore good ones. I guess I'll just have to make up for a few good ones with lots of small ones."

"Is there a good to bad question ratio?"

"1 to 3."

"I never would have guessed."

"So have you ever seen a girls boobs?"

"Real life?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"Well guess what, sweetheart."

"What?"

"You still aren't going to."

"That is the ultimate act of traitorness."

"That's not a word."

"Then what word do you suppose I use?"

"Seduction?"

"I don't think that's what that is."

"I did say you wouldn't see them."

Vriska ran her hands down Eridan's arms and slid his hands first up her legs, over her cold thighs and then up to the wet material of her bikini top. She could feel his fingers shaking and he had a smile on his face. She smirked and pressed his hands close like they were meant to be there.

He ghosted his fingers from the wet material to the exposed skin only an inch away. His hands were soft as he pressed his fingers against her chest like it was some sort of magic.

She finally pulled his hands off and back to rest on her thighs, "How often do you watch or read porn?"

"I've only once."

"That has to be a lie."

"I can think of better things with my imagination. Porn is too predictable and there's no plot."

"You are such a writer."

"I know."

Vriska's lips pressed to his collar bone and hovered over his skin until her lips were back to his ear, "It's hot."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. Really. It's almost persuading."

"Persuading to do what?"

"I think you get some bonus points."

"Have you been keeping track of points?"

"Not really."

"Then how do you know if I'm making enough good decisions?"

"I know."

"Okay."

Vriska pressed her lips back to his throat kissing gently a few times. Before biting softly. She licked over the spot and sucked at his skin, making shivers course through him. She loves the sound of him breathing unsteadily, he inhaled a wavering breath and let it back out with what sounded like a moan but was far too quiet to fully make the cut.

She wrapped her arms around his back and let her nails run lightly over his skin as they trailed to his sides. Once they reached his sides, she gripped them softly and rolled her hips into his again, drawing out a beautiful sound that she wished she could listen to on repeat. She pressed against him once more, a wavering moan coming out in a breath.

"You like it when I do that?"

He sighed out what sounded like a 'yes' and she did it again, that sweet noise drifting into her ears again. She could listen to those sounds forever. She could feel his hardon shoving into her without regret and she loved it. She was so fucking close to him right now it was like a dream. It was times like these that she was glad she hadn't had sex in highschool. No regrets to be had.

She reached an arm around his back and ran her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck. He let out a deep sigh like he had been holding in that one breathe the entire time and he was just getting around to releasing it. Vriska pushed herself back a little, running her fingers under just the edge of his swim trunks from back to front before standing.

"You aren't just gonna leave and pretend this didn't happen right?"

"That would be cruel to both of us. I'm gonna go get that box."

"Isn't now kind of a bad time to be showing me a box?"

"Oh? You don't care about what's inside anymore?"

"No, I do... But... I care about other things more at the moment."

"It's now or never."

"Okay. Go get it."

"Keep your eyes closed and the blindfold on."

"Yes ma'am."

He waited while she went to the sitting room. She came back out a moment later, her feet hitting the deck almost silently.

"Alright you can take the blindfold off."


	6. Chapter 6

The blindfold slid from place on his face and he opened his eyes slowly. This definitely wasn't what he was expecting. There was no box, just Vriska, standing in front of him with purple lace barely covering her chest, she had on light panties with lace edges. They looked like they would be so easy to pull down, like they wouldn't put up any fight when he wanted to pull them loose.

A silk shall draped partially over a shoulder and curved around to hang over her arm. She had on a smile that looked like an attempted smirk but had too much feeling in it to portray any attitude. He smiled back, "I knew I could trust you with a little money. You stay here now, I'll be back in a minute."

"You better be back in a lot less than a minute."

"I'll work at twenty seconds."

"Deal."

He opened the metal door and descended quickly into his room, stripping off the wet swim trunks and pulling on a pair of boxers. He grabbed a candle from the closet and lit it on the dresser, the smile never leaving his face until he ran upstairs, trying to look nonchalant.

He walked swiftly to Vriska and scooped her into his arms, "Wow you're a lot stronger than you look."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Please do."

He carried her downstairs and set her on her feet, "So are you taking that off ifor/i me or am I?"

"That's entirely up to you."

"Give me a show."

"Absolutely."

Eridan sat back on his bed.

"Do you have any music that isn't classical?"

"You found my radio?"

"Yeah."

"I guess you haven't found my CD stash then."

"Nope."

Eridan stood and went to a cabinet in the back corner, opening the long door and revealing shelf after shelf of CDs.

"Pick something sexy."

He pulled out a CD and opened the case, sticking the CD into another stereo on his dresser.

"You listen to house?"

"Is that sexy enough?"

"I can use this."

Eridan smirked and watched while she stripped. First the shawl, running down her sides and down her legs until she dropped it to the floor. She turned and ran her hands over her hips, running her finger tips under the lace edge of her panties. Next she stepped forward and held out a hand until Eridan took it,

"How about a little of both?"

She pulled him up and places his hands at the back of her neck where he could untie the violet ribbon that held her top on. He was hesitant as he pulled the end from its place, freeing the bow and leaving only the criss-crossed ribbon left. He swiftly slid his finger under the edge and pulled the two end completely apart.

Her bra came loose and the weight of the ribbon pulled down the top part, leaving the rest for him to pull away. He seemed more decisive as he pulled it the rest of the way down, meeting her eyes before looking down at her chest, fingers running softly over the surface of her boobs and thumbs meeting with her nipples. She took a step back, untying the back of her bra and pulling it away, dropping it on the floor.

She held out her hands to grab his again, leading them to the sides of the thin lace panties. He grinned nervously and ran his fingers gently over the lace before pinching the edges and pulling them down down. It was just like he thought; no resistance, so light and easy to discard. He bent down the farther he pulled them until he was on his knees looking up at her perfect body.

Flawless Ivory skin that made her blue eyes and dark ebony hair stand out. She knelt down after him and met his lips. He was shocked at how hot her boobs were when they pressed against his chest. It was like a furnace on his skin. His breathing was shallow as he tasted the inside of her mouth, still sweet from their game earlier.

She straddled him as best she could while he was on his knees, stomach flat against his. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her lips to his neck, sucking right between his neck and shoulder.

She stood then, pulling him up. She was almost tired of teasing him. Teasing him involved teasing herself and she was tired of stalling. He stood up after her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her on top of him as he fell back into his bed. She sat on his waist, hands running over his pale chest before continuing down to his boxers. She crawled backwards until she could pull them down, biting her lip until his erection was uncovered. Her lips parted and he watched from where he leaned back on his elbows.

She leaned down slowly, eyes flickering up to meet his. His breathing was deep and slow and she continued until she was close enough to stick out her tongue and run it up the length. She parted her lips further and pressed them to the top, sliding down until her entire mouth was filled with his cock.

There was a shallow exhale and she sat up, "Don't wanna spoil the ending now do we?"

"Of course not."

He sighed defeatedly and she stood to walk across the room. She bent down and reached under a chair, pulling out the cardboard box.

"You kept it in here?"

"Sure. Why would you expect it to be right under your nose?"

She pulled it open once more, "Hmmm... what to choose, what to choose..."

"What else've you got in there?"

She looked up, her face twisting into an evil grin before she grabbed something from inside and tossed the box to the floor.

She crawled back into her sitting position on his waist, his hard cock rubbing against her ass. She popped the cap on a bottle, "You're good at reading, right?"

She held the bottle out for him to look at.

"Watermelon."

"Yes."

"Heated?"

"Yes."

"Mother of god."

"Yes."

"That was definitely a hundred dollars well spent."

"Yes."

She poured some in her hand, reaching behind her to run her fingers along his erection, he stifled a moan by holding his breath. He let the air out slowly and stared at the goddess sitting atop him.

She poured more directly on him and then in her hand again to rub on herself as best she could.

"I might be convincing but this is still my first time."

"Okay."

"I'm sure you get the idea."

"Of course."

Vriska stood and walked over to the box on the floor, pulling out a box and tearing it open. She pulled out a plastic package and torn it open, removing the plastic to reveal a condom. She sat back on the bed, pressing it to the tip of his hard-on, rolling it down.

"Do you wanna be on top?"

"I don't really care who's on top."

"Ca-"

"Yes."

"Okay."

He sat up, Vriska taking his place as he sat on his knees and then adjusted to a position over the top of her.

He leaned forward and kissed her, lips trailing from her mouth to her jaw to her neck. He could feel a hand reaching down nervously to help. Her fingers lay over the top of his and he pressed in slowly. She exhaled and he kissed her neck again. It was agonizingly slow for him but until he was all the way inside her hot vagina. His erection throbbed with want.

"What are you waiting for? The hard part is over."

That was all he was waiting for. He picked up in pace and thrust hard. Vriska had been silent until now, moaning deep in her chest, urging him to continue. He went at a quick pace. A hand held gently onto her side and one on her back. She was gasping with every thrust, her hot breath hitting his neck. He kissed as her neck again, whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

"You're so beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen someone so amazingly beautiful."

"You're not so bad yourself."

She gasped, legs wrapping around his waist as best as they could.

"If I didn't know better I'd think you've practiced."

"It's not hard to do."

Her arms wrapped around his neck, her right hand running from his hips to his shoulder blades, nails scratching lightly over the surface of his skin.

She whispered his name roughly, her breathing uneven. He moaned, his back arching. He pressed as far against her as he could, electricity running through his nerves.

He moaned, each breath turning into some kind of noise. Vriska kind of wished he didn't have to wear a condom. She wished she could feel him just a little bit more. She was so close but the stopped movement wasn't getting her anywhere. She took in all of the sounds he made like they were the air she breathed. He was selfless though. She admired that. As soon as he had reached orgasm, he spent only a split second before he continued thrusting, eager to bring her to her climax. She gasped and moaned at every exhale before she was lost. Her back arched hands scraping on his back. She bit her lip before releasing the pent up breath.

She took in smooth breaths while she waited for the nerves in her body to calm down. Eridan was nearly collapsed on top of her but she didn't mind the weight. He looked her in the eyes after sitting up and pulling from inside of her, "I love you."

She stared back at him, mouth open partway in awe.

"I love you too," she breathed out.

He kissed the side of her mouth, standing up and holding out a hand to pull her up. She stood, a little wobbly on her feet. He turned and went to the bathing room, opening the door and discarding the condom before slipping into the hot water, Vriska following soon after.

Her eyes fluttered open. Her arm was numb. She pulled her right arm from its bent position against Eridan's side and stretched it out trying to regain feeling. Her other arm was lying across his chest. The only thing she wore was a pair of underwear. Her legs wrapped around his and her cheek pressed against his side. The heavy blankets held in all the heat and kept her more than warm enough. She sat up and looked over to her sleeping prince.

His eyes were closed, thick black eyelashes against pale skin, his light freckles complimenting him. She let a finger brush the hair from his face. He was a deep sleeper. He took deep slow breathes through his parted lips. She slid silently from the bed, pressing the blankets against him to keep out the cold air. She went up the stairs and opened the door carefully to see they were in the middle of nowhere. She opened it all the way and shut it quietly before slipping into the sitting room to pull a shirt on over her naked body. The only clean shirt was the spare shirt Eridan had brought up her yesterday before going swimming. Too bad he never had the chance to change into it.

She grinned as she pulled it down, reaching into the cupboard for a pot and pan. She dumped the water from a plastic bottle into the pot, setting it on the stove to boil. She found some bacon in the cooler and tore it open, putting some in the pan.

Eridan could sense the emptiness in his bed. He turned over, eyes opening unwillingly, to see that Vriska was no longer beside him. He had wondered if she would be uncomfortable sleeping in his bed with him. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes, reaching for his glasses on his dresser. He slid them on and swung his legs over the bed, opening a drawer and pulling out some clothes to put on.

Vriska flipped the bacon over. She reached in the cupboard for the tin can full of cocoa she'd tossed in the basket at the store. She poured some in the boiling water and mixed it up. She was surprised to hear a voice behind her, "Wow. Isn't this a sight to wake up to. I thought maybe you wanted to sleep upstairs but I guess not. This is infinitely better."

"What is? Me cooking breakfast?"

"I was more thinking you in your underwear and only my T-shirt."

She grinned and pulled some bacon off the skillet to put on a plate. She handed it to the man standing in the doorway. He had no shirt on. "Why shirtless? Looking for this?"

She pointed to her self and he laughed, "No, it's just hot out."

"No kidding, that bed is like an oven."

"Sorry."

"It's not a bad thing necessarily. That just means it must be nice in the winter."

"It is."

She pulled out the rest of the bacon and put it on her own plate, setting it on the table. She poured the hot chocolate into mugs and set them on the table, sitting down to eat.

It was quiet for the first few minutes; maybe a little awkward.

"Sorry I didn't dirty talk."

She giggled. Eridan laughed, almost choking on his food, "That's okay, you can next time."

Se grinned and looked up at him, "I hope it wasn't too boring."

He gave her a serious look, "Come on don't be like that."

"Sorry."

She went back to eating, "So are you almost done with that book?"

"Not really."

"Alright well I'm starting on the second one today so get to it."

"Aye Aye madame."

He took his plate and mug and left the room to go downstairs. She followed after him. She set her mug on his dresser and picked up the book from his table, carrying it to his bed. She leaned against the wall and opened it up.

The morning was nice. The air was warm with a breeze flowing through the room from upstairs. She read eagerly, the only noise in the room was the scratching of Eridan's fountain pen against the pages of the book he wrote in.

She finally shoved the paper she'd been using as a bookmark in between the pages and closed the book.

"So... hungry?"

"A little."

"Wanna go fishing?"

He looked up and smiled, "You still need to catch that fish."

"Yes I do."

"Let's go."

He stood up and set down his pen, jogging up the stairs with Vriska behind him.

They sat down in their usual seats. Vriska opened up the tackle box and pulled out the jar of marshmallows, stabbing one with the hook on her line, and casting out. Eridan sat down next to her.

"Do you want me to be completely honest with you?"

She turned to look at him briefly before turning her gaze back on her line, "Yes..."

"I think... you're the most amazing person I've ever met."

She made a breathy laugh, "Thank you. You're the most unusual and most charming man I've ever met."

"I don't think anyone has ever called me charming before. Isn't that like one of those princely things?"

"Yes."

"Then does it really apply?"

"Absolutely."

"Then I guess that makes you a princess. The title suits you."

"Hardly."

"What's wrong with it?"

"I'm an athletic nerd. I don't really think princesses do that stuff. It seems like the only thing they're good at is falling in love and rebelling against their parents."

"Is that inaccurate?"

"Well... I guess not."

Vriska laughed and adjusted herself so she could cross her legs. She felt her line tightening. She took a deep breath and tried to remember what Eridan had told her before. She waited until the line was pulled and then tugged back, reeling it in as best she could. The tugging continued and she tried to pull back.

"Let the line out."

"Why?"

"If you let it swim away with the hook in its mouth and keep pulling it back it'll get tired faster."

"Oh."

She tried this, repeatedly letting the line out and then reeling it back in. The tugging was getting lighter and she decided to reel it in. The line got closer and she soon had a fish three feet underwater still trying to pull away.

"Get that bucket."

Eridan laid down his rod and pulled the bucket from behind them. The fish wriggled once pulled from the water. She swung the line over the bucket until it was lined up and dropped the line so the fish flopped around in the shallow water in the bottom. It stilled when it realized it was in water, breathing deeply like it was struggling. She watched for a minute until Eridan reached down to pull the hook from its mouth.

"Congratulations. Your first fish."

"Thanks."

She grinned back at him but her smiled diminished when she looked back at the creature that stared up at her.

"I can't kill it."

"That's okay. I'll do it if you want."

"Please."

She stood up and put her pole down against the wall of the boat, going into the sitting room. She rooted around in the bookshelf to see if there were any others that looked interesting that she could put in line to read after the end of Eridan's last and before He finished his new one.

Around ten minutes passed. She had come up with a sizable stack of material when Eridan came inside, gutted fish in hand. He pulled down a clean skillet from the cupboard and sliced the fish into pieces, putting them into the hot pan while Vriska carried the stack of books to her old bed. She went downstairs to get the book she was still reading. She came back up and sat down in the chair she had first woken up in, opening the book and reading. It seemed like only a few minutes had passed by when Eridan waved a hand in front of her face, "You zoned out?"

"Huh?"

"Yes?"

"Oh... yeah. This book is amazing."

"Glad to hear it."

She shoved the bookmark back in place and looked around Eridan to see the table set with dinner served.

She stood and walked over to sit down with him across from her. She ate silently, content until he spoke up.

"We're stopping at Allorson tomorrow."

"Where's that?"

"Probably not a town you've heard of. It's a small place. I have to run some errands. While I'm out doing some things do you think you could do me a favor?"

"What favor?"

"Go have fun at the mall."

Vriska laughed, "What for?"

"Why not. I'll give you two hundred to have a good time. I'll drop you off there at noon and pick you up at five."

"You expect me to spend two hundred dollars in five hours?"

"Can't you?"

"Naw... I probably could."

She laughed.

His plan was perfect.

"Alright then. I expect you'll have fun. I wish I could shop with you but you know... Errands."

She nodded, "Alright."


	7. Chapter 7

The bus pulled to a stop at the sidewalk, Eridan standing from the bench he was sitting on next to Vriska. They walked on, going to the back where it was empty. Eridan pulled out his wallet, "Here," he handed her four fifty dollar bills, "have fun with this. Just not too much fun."

He smiled at her and shut his wallet, shoving it back in his pocket.

She folded the money and slipped it into her pants pocket.

"What constitutes as too much fun?"

"I think you know what I mean."

"Oh come on, I'm not gonna clear the shelves."

Eridan grinned, "I think we can make do with what we got on our last shopping trip for now."

"Alright fine."

Vriska laughed darkly and stood as the bus came to a stop in front of the mall parking lot.

"I'll see you at five then."

Eridan nodded and Vriska leaned down to give him a quick kiss before leaving the bus. She walked through the parking lot, stepping up onto the sidewalk and entering through Barnes and Noble. She went to the coffee counter and ordered something to wake her up a bit more. Eridan didn't have coffee on the boat so it was a treat. She sat down at one of the tables and thought about what she wanted to spend her money on.

She finally stood and walked to the exit of Barnes and Noble. First thing's first; she needed some clothes and a bag. She went into the nearest store that looked like it had some nice clothes in it. She immediately found a bag calling out to her. It was a dark gray messenger bag with a white silhouette of a small boat and someone fishing. She thought it oddly appropriate and checked the price tag. She pulled one off the rack and hung it over her shoulder, looking around the clothes. She went straight to the shelf full of accessories. She left the shop with almost half of her money gone and a bag full of loot. She now had a locket around her neck. She would have to get a camera.

She walked around looking for a store she could go to next. She spotted the electronics store and made her way to the cameras. She spent a few minutes looking through them when the cashier came over to ask if she needed any help.

"Which one of these is the best quality?"

She held up a few of her first choices.

"That one definitely. It has good picture quality, it's durable, and it's only fifty bucks. The only downside is it only holds about fifty pictures at a time. You have to upload them to your computer more often than some of the more expensive cameras."

Vriska scrunched her nose. It probably seemed like she was trying to decide but it was really the employee's lisp that was getting to her. She put the other two on the shelf and handed him the camera, "I'll take it."

He nodded and went over to the counter to ring it up. She handed him some cash and took the camera to put in her bag.

"So, need anything else?"

"No."

"Okay, well come back any time."

"Of course."

She left in a hurry, eager to not come back any time soon. She walked down the big hall and looked around at the different stores. A bright sign caught her eye and she looked through the entry to see store full of colorful soaps and such. She looked around before walking inside. Everything in sight seemed to have strong scents and high price tags. There were candles, soaps, incense, and almost anything else that would come in an extremely obnoxious smell. She briefly scanned a shelf of perfume. She was about to turn and leave when a bright blue bottle seemed to beckon her over. She ran a finger over its surface before plucking it off the glass shelf and holding it to her nose to see what it smelled like. It was subtle and powerful at the same time.

She walked to the counter and set it down for the woman standing there to ring up. The register beeped when she ran the red laser over the perfumes price tag. She put it in a little white box and handed it to Vriska after she put the money down. "Have a nice day," she said boringly.

Vriska put the box in her bag and raised an eyebrow before leaving the stuffy store. She took a deep breath of the clear air outside in the hall. She had another three hours to kill. She looked around until she saw another clothing shop. Her money was running low by the time she left. She was actually surprised at how decent the prices were in that particular shop. She went back to the other side of the mall and into the Barnes and Noble, heading straight for the isle of romance. It took her a while to find a book that looked interesting but once settled on one, she bought it and sat down to read for the rest of the duration of her stay.

Her new watch beeped at ten til and she stood, putting her book in her bag and heading outside. Eridan was waiting for her on a bench on the sidewalk. He stood when he saw her.

"How was your shopping trip?"

"Fun."

"What'd you get?"

"A bunch of stuff. I"ll show you when we get back to the boat."

"Alright."

Her bag was bulging with stuff she'd bought along with a shopping bag in her left hand. They walked to the bus stop and sat down to wait for the five o' clock bus. It pulled up after a few minutes of silence and they got on, Eridan holding out a hand for Vriska to sit down first. She sat down and he sat next to her.

Vriska set her bags on the bench next to her, staring out the window. She was surprised when she felt a hand wrap around hers. She was sure she was blushing but he probably couldn't see it. Their fingers entwined and she bit her lip.

The bus stopped in front of a cluster of stores. Eridan stood and pulled on her hand.

"This isn't the right stop," she pointed out.

"Sure it is. Come on."

Vriska was about to argue but he looked like he knew what he was talking about so she stood and picked up her bags, following him off the bus.

"You're wearing comfortable shoes right?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

He reached over to take her shopping bag, carrying it in his left hand while his right held hers still. They walked along the sidewalk for a while, Vriska trying to keep quiet. She eventually grew bored of staying quiet, "So... where are we going?"

"You'll see."

He smiled mischievously. He looked rather satisfied with himself. She supposed she would just have to wait to find out. He turned a corner and she followed after him, jogging to catch up so her arm wasn't being pulled. She slowed down at his side, walking fast to keep up.

"Am I walking too fast?"

"Maybe a little."

He slowed down a bit and stopped at a crosswalk, pressing the button on the metal pole next to them. The light turned green and they walked across to the other side. She looked around trying to find some sign of where they were at. It didn't seem like they were anywhere interesting. All she could see was small stores and fast food restaurants. He turned right and led her down a sidewalk in front of a small strip mall. He stopped and turned to a door, "Ladies first."

He opened the door to the building whose windows were covered in black. She stepped inside, looking around. She was in a black hallway with a big blue curtain hanging at the end. He stepped in behind her and walked towards the curtain, Vriska close behind. He brushed the curtain aside to reveal a counter with a man in a tux.

Vriska looked at him curiously, feeling a bit withdrawn. Eridan nodded at him and pulled Vriska carefully by the hand. They passed around a hallway and into a big room. There were round tables throughout the room with black tablecloths and white candles. The room was dark and the seemingly endless ceiling was covered in realistic stars that made it look like they were in a roofless room in the middle of the night. Her mouth hung open and she followed him at another tug to the hand. He continued down another hallway on the other side of the room.

He opened a door and she went inside a room. There was a table in the middle with a white cloth and a candle. More candles illuminated the room, sitting around on any surface.

"Oh my gosh."

"Like it?"

"Oh my gosh."

"Yes?"

"This is amazing."

Eridan smiled, "It's rented out for the rest of the evening."

"That must have been extremely expensive."

"I'm sure I'll manage to stay afloat somehow."

Vriska gave him an amused smile, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. You deserve it. I mean, we can't really date unless we actually go on a date, right?"

Vriska chuckled, "I suppose."

She took the messenger bag from around her neck and set it on a couch against the wall by the door, "Um..."

"Yeah?"

Vriska lowered her voice, "Where's the bathroom?"

"Right down this hall and it's the door to the left. Do you want me to show you?"

"No, I've got it."

She left the room and hurried to the bathroom, going inside and locking the door behind her. She looked in the mirror and sighed. She was grateful for the surprise but she also kind of wished she'd had some kind of warning. She looked down at the clothes she was in. Cargo pants and a band T-shirt.

She pulled the shirt over her head and unbuttoned the borrowed pants, leaving them on the floor as she dug into her shopping bag. She supposed she was glad she hadn't spent all her money on accessories. The bag was full of possible outfits but she knew just what she wanted to wear.

The door opened and Eridan looked up, mouth opened slowly.

"Wow... You look... I don't even think there's a word for that."

Vriska smiled shyly and set her bag down on the couch, "Thanks."

Her cheeks burned and Eridan stood to pull out her chair for her. She sat down and sat up as straight as she could.

Her pale legs were covered in black nylons. A dark blue dress was snug around her chest and stomach, loosening into rippled material over her distinguished hips. Eridan sat down across from her and stared at her, "You look so beautiful."

"Thank you."

Her hands twisted in front of her and she looked down at her plate.

Eridan leaned forward, "Did you buy perfume?"

"Yeah."

"I like it."

He smiled and leaned back. The two watched each other quietly until a knock came to the door.

"Come in," Eridan said loudly.

The door opened and a waiter walked in, "Good evening. How long until I should come back?" He handed them two menus and folded his hands.

"Just give us ten."

"Absolutely. I'll be back then."

He turned and left the room.

Vriska opened the menu and scanned over the options.

"What are iyou/i getting?"

Eridan looked over the top of the menu, "I have no idea."

"Me either."

"Well what's your favorite food?"

"French toast. They probably don't server breakfast after noon though."

"Well I'm sure they can be persuaded."

"Eridan, you don't have to spoil me."

"It's just one night. I don't think I can ruin you that quickly."

Vriska laughed, "Well if you insist."

The waiter knocked on the door a moment later and Eridan beckoned him in. He stood next to their table, "Have you found something you're interested in?"

Vriska was glad Eridan was the one talking here, "Yeah. Do you think you could convince your chef to make some French toast?"

"It's after breakfast hours, sir."

The waiter looked a bit skeptical.

"Of course, I wouldn't want special treatment."Eridan reached in his pocket and handed over some cash. The waiter looked at the cash in his hand and smirked, "I'll see what I can do. What would you two like to drink?"

Vriska looked up, "Coffee for me."

"Same for me."

He left the room and Eridan laughed, "I've always wanted to bribe someone."

Vriska laughed too and pointed to her bag, "Did you wanna see what I bought?"

"Absolutely." Eridan smiled earnestly and stood to sit on the couch after Vriska.

She pulled out the messenger bag and showed it to him, "I think this one is pretty self explanatory."

Eridan smiled and nodded.

She pulled out the stuff inside, "Here's the perfume I bought."

She opened the box to show him the bottle.

"I also got these," she said, pulling out a few necklaces and also pointing to the locket on her neck.

"What are you gonna put in the locket?"

"A picture of course."

She pulled out the camera and handed it to him.

"Nice."

"Yeah. The clerk who helped me pick it out was kind of annoying though."

"Why?"

"He had a lisp."

"Oh."

She reached in her bag and pulled something else out.

"I also got this for you because I noticed you didn't have one like this."

She held out a red scarf with a black design over it.

"how do you know I don't have one like that?"

"Because I've gone through all the scarves in your closet."

Eridan chuckled, "Why does that not surprise me."

"What else Is there to do?"

She pulled out the book she bought, "I also got this. You can read it when I'm done with it. It's really good so far."

He took the book and read the back. "Looks good."

A knock on the door turned their attention, "Come in."

The waiter came in with a platter, "I think the chef had a change of heart."

He set the plates down with hot french toast, bacon, and eggs.

"A million thanks." Eridan sat down after pulling out Vriska's chair once more for her to sit down.

The waiter nodded dutifully and left the room, leaving the two to enjoy their breakfast for dinner.

Vriska ate a bite and smiled, "This is perfect. I think you're the biggest romantic I've met."

"Why thank you. I take pride in my skills with the women."

Vriska laughed and ate a piece of bacon, "I'm sure you've had so much practice."

"Ouch."

"Hey, I'm allowed to make forever alone jokes; I was one of them."

"Alright, deal."

They ate quietly, looking up at each other every few seconds and smiling. Vriska finished finally and set her hands in her lap carefully, watching Eridan finish the last of his food.

"What now?"

"That's up to you."

"How long is this room booked for?"

"Another two hours."

"Hopin to get lucky?"

Eridan laughed, "Not exactly. But it's a good security measure."

Vriska grinned and looked over at the couch, "Well there's that couch."

"Yes there is."

"But there's also that bathroom."

"Why would you think of the bathroom?"

"I meant the one on the boat."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Water was one of the things on that list wasn't it?"

"... Yeah."

"How much did this room cost?"

"Only a couple hundred an hour."

"Holy crap."

"That's nothing. I promise."

"You make me feel poor."

"What's mine is yours."

"Can I take that any way I want?"

"Please do."

Vriska stood and shoved her stuff back in her bag, "I think it's high time we leave."

"Yes ma'am."

They walked back to the bus stop to wait for the seven thirty shuttle. It wasn't long before it pulled up and they got on for the ten minutes it would take to get back to the pier. Vriska's feet hurt in the heels she was wearing. She took them off as they walked down the dock. Eridan held her hand while she stepped onto the boat, keeping her balanced while she got back into the usual motion of the water.

Eridan untied the boat and directed it back out to the usual current, far from the city. It was visible from a distance, neon lights and streetlights shining through the thick of night. He turned around once the motor turned off, Vriska grabbing onto his shirt, fumbling with the buttons while she backed up towards the door to the stairs. She opened the door and jogged down, Eridan close behind her. She undid the last few buttons, running her hands up to his shoulders to pull his shirt off.

She turned around so he could unzip her dress and help lift it over her head. She pulled her nylons down carefully, tossing them on top of her dress.

She pressed her lips to his, one arm wrapped around his neck and one gripping at his jaw. She finally pulled her hands from place to reach down and unbutton his pants, pulling them loose and urging him towards the bathroom where they fumbled with their underwear before slipping into the water.


	8. Chapter 8

Thud.

Eridan looked up to see a book in front of him; the second book he'd written to be exact. He looked up to meet eyes with Vriska, "Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm workin' on it. Have you finished that book you bought yet?"

"Yes."

"Go read the books I inherited from my grandfather."

"Those are all adventure and documentary stuff."

"So?"

"So, I like romance and stuff. Or at least something fiction."

Eridan waved her off, "I'll be done in a few days."

"I'm holding you to that."

Vriska waited patiently, keeping busy with things like plotting, writing in the journal Eridan had given her, fishing, swimming. She was getting bored though. She had been longing to see what was behind that cover for almost a week. The three days were slow and painful. She even managed to finish one of the more boring nonfiction books from Eridan's ancestors. It was boring and she hoped she wouldn't have to read anymore like it.

He could feel her looming over his shoulder. He looked up behind him, "I'm almost done."

"You said three days."

"It hasn't been three days. This is the third day, you can't bitch at me until midnight."

Vriska raised an eyebrow, "Is this what you call bitching?"

"Kind of."

She lowered her eyebrows and smirked devilishly, "Fine, I'll be back later."

He worked on it all day, his fingers sore and numb by the time he was finished with the last sentence. He stood, picking up the book and blowing on the ink until it was dry, closing the book as he entered the sitting room.

Vriska peered over the top of an exceedingly boring documentary on an adventure through the Alps.

"Finished?"

"Yes."

It took two seconds for her to spring from her seat and snatch the novel from his hands.

"But guess what."

"What?"

"You'll have to wait to read it, Feferi has me invited to dinner for this particular docking entrance."

"When did she make ithat/i plan?"

"A million years ago whenever it is we first met. We decided that docking port would symbolize our dinner day. We always have a big dinner and catch up on recent events. Happens once a month. Of course it isn't really a date and you're automatically invited."

"Well I'm honored but I think I'll stay behind to read."

"No you won't. The lights have to be turned off. Every single one. This particular dock is by far the most dangerous. It's a small little cavern, easily accessible by the general public should they find out exactly where it is and how to get inside. It's close to a popular dock on a peninsula very near where we have to enter. Every light has to be turned off so the boat isn't seen."

"It'll be seen anyway won't it? The sun is still a thing that exists."

"We don't go in the daytime. This particular time of month, the moon shows so little there's almost no moonlight and it's pitch black where we have to tie the boat up."

"I gets dark at eight. We're going to eat dinner at eight?"

"It's the one time a month I get to stay up all night. It helps balance out my schedule too."

"All night?"

"Well I don't stay there all night. I usually stay there til about midnight then come back and have a little one-person party. Now I guess you can join me."

"Sounds pretty damn fun."

"Oh it will be."

"So what time is it."

"Come on now don't be lazy."

Vriska made exaggerated groaning noises as she turned to look at the clock on the wall behind her.

"We have to leave in a half hour."

"Yep. That's why you have no time to read."

"Oh, I'll read alright. I'm not waiting til tomorrow to read this, I'm bringing it with me. It'll be a good after-dinner entertainment."

Eridan coughed, "What if it gets ruined in the water?"

"I'll put it in a freezer bag."

"Ugh. Hurry though. I'll go get the wetsuits."

He left with an exasperated expression.

Vriska jumped up to put the book in a freezer bag, doubling it just in case. She set it down on the table to wait for Eridan who was back up in minutes. He handed her her suit and put his on over his clothes.

"Aren't you supposed to take your shirt and jeans off?"

"You're supposed to. It doesn't sound very appealing though to sit in a wetsuit for four hours, now does it?"

"Not really."

She squeezed into hers, clothes folding awkwardly inside the tight suit. She looked down at a pile of something on the floor.

"What is that?"

"Miniature air tank."

"What on earth for?"

"What do you think?"

Vriska looked at him suspiciously before picking one up. It had a buckle strap on it that she attached to her arm, putting the mouthpiece experimentally in her mouth. She grabbed a some goggles from the table and put them on, waiting for Eridan to hurry up with his equipment. He switched off some lights and blew out the candles, Vriska grabbing the book and shoving it in a pouch attached to the belt tied around her waist. They went outside on the deck and he started up the motor, steering them towards a stone cliff. He tied the boat to a very small wooden dock attached to the side, almost completely submerged underwater.

"Put the mouthpiece in your mouth and press the button on the air tank."

Vriska followed orders and was rewarded with air from inside. Eridan climbed down the ladder and into the water, Vriska close behind. He dove down and she followed, very curious now where the entrance was. She followed him, struggling to keep herself from floating back to the surface.

Finally she saw Eridan grab onto a stone edge, pulling himself under and appearing to float up on the other side. She followed suit and was pleasantly surprised to see they were in an underwater cave. She pulled herself up onto the familiarly smooth stone floor and held out a hand to pull Eridan up after her.

They walked through the short cave until they came to a fork. Eridan turned right and continued on but Vriska looked down the others first to see if she could find anything.

"What's down these other halls?"

"A defense mechanism."

"What do you mean?"

"We just entered a maze."

"Really? How long did it take her to make this place?"

"Not long with the powers she has."

Vriska followed him through a few more forks and hallways until they came to a room much like the room with the metal door in the last entry they came through.

This time instead was what almost looked like a vault door. It was only a half circle though. Eridan went towards it and punched in a code in the number pad, turning a wheel that opened the massive hunk of metal. They walked inside, Eridan closing the door behind himself. Now she could see a metal door like the other. They walked towards it but before Eridan could knock the slat opened up and two bubbly fuchsia eyes looked out at them.

"Yay! You're here!"

The slat was closed and the door was unlocked and opened. Feferi was in an elegant pink dress that Flared to the floor and drug behind her. Vriska smiled at her and waved.

"Vriska! You're still stuck on the water?"

"Not exactly."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm staying."

"Oh?"

"I suppose we can talk about it over dinner."

"Absolutely. Come on in!"

They came inside and shut the door behind themselves. Eridan hadn't really remembered to dress up so he and Vriska were just in regular day to day clothes. They pulled their wetsuits off and tossed their equipment on the floor next to the door. Feferi led them down a hallway and into a big dining room with a door on the other end and a kitchen on the side. Vriska was almost always amazed at the stuff in Feferi's 'house'. She went into the kitchen behind her and stood by while she watched her put stuff on platters.

"So you're staying on the boat?"

"Yeah."

"What inspired that?"

"Got nothing to go back to..."

"That's all? Seems kind of lonely just because you don't have anything to go back to."

"Well..."

"Are you and Eridan together now?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not hard to talk to, you don't have to play coy with me."

Feferi smiled her brilliant smile and took a plate to the table.

Vriska grabbed one of the others and followed after her, setting it down in the middle next to the other. It was like thanksgiving with a lot less food. Everything looked special and like it took a lot of effort.

"I would have made something to bring along but... you know... underwater."

Feferi laughed hard, hand clutching her stomach. She smiled over at Vriska, "You know, sometimes I forget where I live. I wouldn't have asked you to bring anything anyway. I have so little to do around here that cooking for someone is kind of a privilege. Thank you for offering though."

Vriska smiled and helped take another plate into the dining room. Eridan came into the kitchen and pulled some cups down from a shelf, handing one to Vriska. And pointing to a cooler where there was different stuff to drink.

"Where do you get all this food and stuff?"

"I have my connections. Usually through Eridan or another friend of mine."

"Who else knows about this place?"

"That's a secret."

"Okay."

Vriska followed Eridan after pouring orange soda into her cup. They went into the dining room and sat down after Feferi.

The dinner was amazing... but silent. Almost no one talked except to comment on how good the food was or to tell a quick story to Vriska about some other dinners they had that were accompanied by random events of hilarity.

Once everyone finished, they all cluttered into the kitchen to do their part in cleaning the dishes and putting food in the cooler. Vriska wondered when the 'fun' would happen. Hopefully when they weren't stuffing their faces with grade A food and gorging on soda they would have some obligation to socialize.

Feferi put the last dish in the cupboard and turned around to leave the kitchen, "I suppose we should show Vriska to the living room."

"How big is this house of yours anyway?"

"Not so big as it is stretched out."

"How far away is that one room we were in when we met?"

"That's my bedroom. It's about ten miles from here."

"Do you walk there every day?"

"Not always. Sometimes I fall asleep on the couch or something."

She opened a door at the end of the hallway they were headed down and motioned for Vriska to go ahead. She looked around. It was a lot less eccentric compared to her bedroom. The couches were bright purple but other than that the décor was pretty much the same as any young woman's house. There were few portraits hung on the walls, a lamp on a side table, a colorful rug in the center of the stone floor.

She sat down in an armchair in the corner, Eridan sitting at the end of the couch nearest her. She pulled out Eridan's book and set it on the end table, attempting to wait for a while so she didn't come off as rude.

"So you two are together now?"

"Yeah."

"Have you gone on a date yet?"

Eridan smiled, "Yeah, a few days ago."

"Did you do anything impressive?"

"I'm not sure if it constitutes as impressive."

Vriska cocked her head and smirked, "It was impressive."

The conversation continued with Feferi asking questions about their date night and other things like if he had written her any poetry yet. Vriska was greatly amused at Feferi's apparent love for romance. She finally pulled the book from the table and opened it up. Her and Eridan were starting to branch out into their own little conversation anyway.

She started reading the first chapter. It definitely wasn't what she expected.

iIt was then. It was finally her. It was happening. That warm feeling I had always read about was finally being shoved into my chest to experience all on my own./i

She raised an eyebrow. Straightforward. She read a few more paragraphs before stopping and double-taking.

iHer raven black hair falls in her face and frames her pale skin. Her eyes are ice blue and stare into my soul. I couldn't feel this way about anyone else. There's a feeling of comfort in my heart that I've only ever felt since I've met her. She makes me feel like a human being again and gives me thoughts I've never had before. She's been annoying me about writing a book for a while.

Well,

here's a book./i

Vriska's mouth had fallen open at some point during those words. She could feel Feferi glancing at her every now and then but paid no mind. She read on and after the first chapter ended, she was almost positive she knew where this was going.

She poured over the pages of the second chapter. She almost felt proud of how bloody graphic he was capable of writing this. Every inch of skin was described; every movement documented.

She shifted in her seat, glancing up at Eridan who just happened to have glanced at her at the exact same time. She met his eyes and he smirked what she could almost describe as devilishly.

As her eyes were falling back to the page she was on, they just happened to drift past his pants and she swallowed before continuing the book. Feferi was giving her odd looks as she shifted positions every few minutes.

She felt her brain melting away as she read the scandalous contents of the book. She almost wondered if Eridan was just doing this to make her look bad in front of Feferi. But then again, he had told her she shouldn't read this here. She sighed and shut the book on chapter four, putting it down on the table and giving Eridan her best glare while being as discrete as possible.

After their conversation had worn thin, Feferi stood, "Well, I made dessert if you guys are interested."

Vriska wasted no time standing up and waiting for Feferi to take the lead. Eridan stood a little slower, following Feferi to the kitchen. She pointed to the cooler, "Eridan could you get the pie from in there? I'll be right back."

Eridan nodded and opened the cooler, pulling the pie from a shelf on the bottom. Vriska watched him bend over and took a deep breath, turning her eyes to the bowl of fruit sitting on the counter.

He set the pie down and reached for some plates, setting them down and looking over innocently to the stone stare Vriska was giving him.

"Wha-?"

"You're evil."

Eridan smiled, "Whatever would make you say that?"

"You know why."

"Do I?"

Vriska growled and grabbed him by the waist of his pants, fingers slipping under the hem of his underwear. She got in his face, "You. You're a horrible person."

"Am I really?"

"Absolutely. Fucking tease. Trying to kill me."

"Oh come on, my intentions were harmless."

"Whatever you say."

She scraped her nails lightly over his lower stomach as she pulled her fingers from the edge of his pants.

He gulped and looked down at her nonchalantly, "I hope you get the worst boner."

"Why would you hope that?"

"Because god knows, give and take, asshole."

"Well then."

Feferi came back into the room with a tub of ice cream and set it on the counter, "Something wrong?"

"Not at all," Vriska said with a bubbly smile on her face to replace the vindictive glare she had been drilling into Eridan.

Feferi served up some dessert and handed it to her house-guests. They all went to the table and ate with light conversation circling through them.

"So when will I get to see you two next?"

"Probably the next stop in about a week and a half."

"Awesome!"

Vriska's hand wandered nonchalantly to the chair next to her. Eridan sat up a bit straighter, her fingers firm as they pressed into him, slowly running to the edge of his pants and slipping inside. It was tiems like these that he wished he had taken to skinny jeans.

She did nothing but run her fingers roughly along the sensitive edges of his pelvis, thumb rubbing roughly on the bone that made a barely visible bump at his side. He struggled hard to keep his mind focused on the dessert in front of him but it was a bit complicated with his girlfriend's hands almost down his pants. It was futile.

He shoved the last bite of pie into his mouth and looked up, "I left a light on downstairs."

Feferi looked surprised, "You did?"

"Yeah, we should go. I need to turn that off before someone sees the boat."

Vriska pulled her hand back and he stood up urgently, walking to the kitchen and scrubbing off his plate. She rushed to follow him, trying to be fast while she cleaned her plate off and ran after him to the front room.

Feferi followed too, "Bye! I can't wait to see you again!"

She rushed to hug them both but Eridan was out the door before she had the chance.

"What's his problem?"

Vriska shrugged, "Thanks a ton for tonight, I can't wait to come back."

"No problem! I love the company."

Vriska nodded and pulled on her wetsuit, zipping it as she ran after her victim. She had lost site of him though so she opened the vault door and went to the maze entrance. She suddenly felt a hand over her mouth and hot breath hitting her ear, "That was cruel."

Vriska quickly turned it around on him though. Pulling from his grip was easy enough and shoving him against the stone wall wasn't much harder. She pressed against him and pressed her mouth to his ear, "What's even crueler is that book."

He was about to protest but she cut him off, "Imagine how it must have felt. Two hours thinking of nothing but your hot, hard, cock."

She exhaled into his neck and ground against him causing a deep groan to fall past his lips.

"Don't make me take you down and fuck you in my friend's house."

"I would never. I have much more interesting plans for you."

She turned and walked down the hallway, Eridan quick to follow.


	9. Chapter 9

Everything was dark. She knew her eyes were closed and she knew what had happened. She had drowned. She was dead. She wondered what kind of afterlife she would find waiting for her when she opened her eyes. She always thought dying would relieve her of any pain but the throbbing in the back of her head and horribly rough breathing she had to endure told her otherwise.

Her eyes were squinted open and suddenly a bright light was blinding her. She shut them again, her hands pulling through the soft barrier that surrounded her to rub at them futilely. She opened them once more, the back of her right hand pressed over them to shield herself from the bright light that was definitely trying to blind her.

She was hot. She looked down to see a thick blanket wrapped around her. She was completely stripped of clothing. She pulled the blanket tight around her and looked down to see that she was situated in a soft arm chair. She never expected hell to be so classy. She looked around the room to see pictures in silver accented frames and a table in the corner with a pure white tablecloth thrown over it. She stopped to look at the tablecloth. She liked the design it had. The base was completely white and it had purple designs lining the edges. The chairs next to the table were old and wooden but seemed to be newly painted, the paint still a vibrant white with the same shade of purple used to paint the small designs carved into the backs.

She looked down at the floor to see it was old fashioned wood flooring. She liked that. A bookshelf sat against the wall near the chair she was in. Old leather-bound books lined the shelves, a thin carving-decorated board in front of each shelf to hold the books in place. She suddenly felt as if the floor was shifting, the chair seeming to lean to the left. This was when she realized she was supposed to be dead and that she was not dead; as far as she knew.

She looked to the door. It reminded her of something you would see in a movie about pirates. It had a round window near the top with a metal band around the edges, the glass clean. There was a thick rope wrapped around the circle almost like a decoration. She was about to stand and go through the door when she remembered she was naked and this blanket wasn't very big.

"Hello?!"  
She retreated into the blanket as she heard footsteps approaching the door to the room she was in. Her eyes zeroed in on the doorknob as it turned. A man stood in the doorway, "You're awake."  
"Who are you?"  
"Who are _you_?"  
"I'm not at home."  
"Well I'm confused."  
"Now that we are both aware of our confusion, who are you and why am I alive?"  
"Do you want to be dead? Cause if you're discontent by your current condition, I can leave you back in the lake."  
"No... I mean, I'm glad I'm alive. But I have no idea where I am or who you are and I think those things are kind of important to know. Not to mention why I'm completely naked."  
The man grinned and took a step towards her, "Sorry. I didn't want you to freeze or get sick or something."  
"No offense taken."  
"I'm Eridan."  
The young man held out a hand and Vriska shook it, "Vriska."  
"You're in my house at the moment."  
"How did you find me?"  
"That's a long story. Maybe we should go eat something and get some clothes for you. I hung out your swimsuit to dry so I guess that'll suffice at the moment. You can borrow some of my clothes if you want."  
"That's fine."  
Eridan retreated from the room for a minute, going outside and then coming back in with her swimsuit now dry. He handed it to her, "Here you go, sexy."

Vriska raised an eyebrow and held the swimsuit to her chest. The man now known as Eridan stood there watching, "Are you going to leave or what?"

"Why would I wanna do that?"

"Because I don't know you and I can't very well get dressed with you standing here."

"Would you prefer to stay naked?"

"I would prefer if you at least turned around."

"What fun is that?"

Eridan reached out to grab her wrist. She pulled back roughly but he was stronger and pulled her from the chair she sat in to stand in front of him, completely exposed from head to toe.

"My my, you really shouldn't be embarrassed. I don't see a single thing on your body worth being ashamed of. What it's lacking however... That's what I would consider pitiful."

"And what exactly am I lacking?" She continued to pull away futilely.

"My hands all over your skin. That would be a definite improvement."

Vriska leaned in, her hot breath brushing against his cheek, "Keep your disgusting hands off of me."

"Disgustin? They're perfectly clean, I assure you."

His mouth twitched up at the corner and he reached forward to run his fingers along the soft ivory skin of her bare hips.

The wall shook as Vriska jumped back, body colliding with it. Eridan had a satisfied grin and ran his hands further, fingertips pressing hard against her soft ass. She gave him a hateful glare and shoved him away by the chest. The gap between them only lasted half a second before he was pressed against her.

"Why don't you help me out of these clothes, they're a bit uncomfortable."

"Help yourself out of them."

"Now don't be too harsh. I don't believe I've seen anyone as pretty as yourself and it would certainly be a shame if your body went to waste. I'll just have to make use of it."

"The only way you'll get me to do anything is if you tie me to a chair," she said threateningly.

Eridan released her and stepped back, "If you say so."

Vriska rushed for the door as he grabbed a chair from the table but before she could open it, he had a hand on her wrist, pulling her to the chair and shoving her into it. She struggled to get free but he was tightening a rope around her wrists behind the chair. The rope extended to wrap around her stomach and ankles and before she knew it she couldn't move at all.

She pulled at her bonds but it was useless. Eridan stood back, arms crossed, "So, where should we start?"

"Whatever you intend to start I'll have you know I"m playing no part in."

"I think you will."

"Well you're wrong."

"We'll see."

Eridan knelt in front of her on his knees. He looked up at her, "Are you sensitive? Shall we find out?"

"Not like someone the likes of yourself could get me hot in the least."

"I'll have you know that someone like me can turn you into a hot mess in seconds, given the chance. And look! It seems like I've been given the chance!"

"Try your hardest," she growled.

"I intend to."

He rested his left hand on her thigh, running his nails along her skin lightly and giving her goosebumps. He licked his lips but before she could ask he already had his soft lips pressed to her nipple, sucking lightly, nipping gently, devouring her.

The hot and wet sensation was otherworldly. She bit her lip and looked down to watch him suspiciously. Her eyes closed halfway and she leaned her head back. His right hand ran down her thigh before moving to her stomach just to slide back down. Vriska clenched her teeth as his fingers pressed against her, sliding through the slick wetness. He made circles with his fingers and finally managed to get a small moan from her.

He grinned up at her mischievously before sliding three fingers inside her, curving them to rub roughly against the inside of her. She tried to hold her breath but holding it all in only seemed to make the moan she finally made louder. She was finally getting into it when he pulled his fingers out and stood up, leaving the room and closing the door behind him. Vriska waited for the door to shut before laughing, "What the hell is he up to?"

She snorted and slid down in the chair to get comfortable. The only light in the room was that of the lamp by the arm chair. She looked around the room, bored, until she heard Eridan's footsteps on deck. She straightened up and glared at him as he came back inside. He looked suspicious as he kept a hand behind his back. One hand came up to shield his mouth halfway, "I'm glad you said I could search that box. You've been holding out on me."

He straightened back up and stepped forward before kneeling, "So, Vriska, We're out in the middle of nowhere, why don't you tell me how loud you can get."

"If you want to know you'll have to earn it."

"I'm sure I can figure something out."

He dropped his arm to his side, setting the contents of his hand on the floor. He picked up the bottle of lube and opened it, squirting some into his hand. The hot liquid was smoothed shamelessly onto her and before she could wonder what he was up to he was behind her where she couldn't see him. She tried to turn to look at him but was shocked at the feeling of vibrations coursing through her. She gasped and arched her back, head tilting back as she tried to take deep breaths, willing herself to stay quiet.

The vibrator moved in circles, sliding through the wet lubricant and teasing at her entrance. She growled and tried to move her hands. She was unable to get free however and in response to her orneriness The vibrator was turned up to a higher setting, speed leaving her breathless and unable to move.

She clenched her teeth and breathed through her nose. The vibrator was suddenly moved and she looked around to see what Eridan was up to next. Everything went dark as thick material covered her eyes and a knot was formed at the back of her head. There was suddenly a weight on her lap and she grinned darkly. Eridan straddled her, chest pressing against her boobs and breath on her neck.

She suddenly felt lips on hers, soft and warm. She kept her lips tight, however, reluctantly playing her part as the unwilling prisoner. She honestly enjoyed this but she wished she felt obligated to kiss back. She felt tight fingers squeezing her jaw until she was forced to open her mouth. The warm lips returned along with the prodding of a tongue in her mouth. The fingers on her jaw loosened, allowing her to kiss back despite the fact that she should be resisting. She supposed if she wasn't in a relationship and this happened to her she might kiss back anyway. There was a hot man in front of her, perfectly willing to do whatever it took to get her to scream his name.

She could feel his throbbing erection pressed against the lowest part of her stomach, driving her crazy because it could certainly be in better places. One hand held her back, pulling her closer to him while the other squeezed between the two of them to turn the vibrator back on. Vriska couldn't help but whine at the suppressed pleasure.

The weight was suddenly gone. The rope around her middle pulled and loosened and her ankles were untied from the chair. She was pulled up from the chair and carried blindly through the boat. She could tell they were going downstairs. She suddenly felt her weight dropping and she landed on a soft blanket, presumably on her captor's bed.

Her legs were pushed back. She expected a hard thrust any moment but instead, the shocking sensation of a tongue replaced her expectations with a surprised moan. His tongue felt like all of her wildest fantasies and his teeth brushed ever so lightly over her clit, nerves on fire and body in shock.

Her back arched and her head tilted back as far as the bed would allow. She made struggling gasping sounds and before she knew it his tongue was gone and why was he stopping? Then she remembered she was supposed to be resisting all of this and she growled into the blankets. She was being picked up again, and suddenly she was face-first in the blankets. She couldn't very well hold herself up so she turned her head sideways and tried to get as comfortable as she could.

His hands were on her hips, gripping hard in the time he was presumably lining himself up with the target. They hadn't tried this position yet. Vriska braced herself but couldn't help but cry out in both slight pain and imminent arousal as his hard cock shoved inside her from behind.

She felt like their bodies were melting into each other. She was almost a moaning mess but before she could collapse she was bound and determined.

"Fine. If you so insist on shoving your huge cock inside of me, at least do me the honor of untying my hands so I can be little more than a pile of dead weight."

The thrusting slowed and the binding rope loosened and fell to the bed beneath her. She put one hand under her to hold her up while the other reached behind her to hold his hip as best she could. She felt a hand cover hers and the last moments of their roleplay session collapsed. She could feel more and more of his stomach pressing against her as he leaned forward near his end.

She could hardly take the pounding against her insides before her body was racked with the glorious sensation of orgasm. Eridan was almost completely pressed into her back when he came. She was almost getting used to the disappointment of needing a condom. He had both arms under hers, one wrapped around her stomach and one wrapping under her arm to hold her shoulder. He rested his chin on her shoulder while catching his breath.

"That was fun."

She breathed out an exhausted laugh, "I kind of gave up at the end."

"Yeah me too."

He chuckled and slid his arms from around her so he could escape to the bathroom, Vriska following soon after to relax in the hot tub. The night was long. They had hours left before the sun even rose. Vriska snuggled into Eridan's side, "So what next? What do you usually do when you stay up all night?"

"Well, usually I sit in the hot tub and drink wine while thinking about what I could write about and or thinking about what the hell I'm going to do next."

"Seems legit. How about we play a game."

"We just did," Eridan laughed and brushed the hair out of his face.

"I meant something more along the lines of truth or dare. Then there's also a game I like to call consequence."

"I am dying to know what that last one is all about."

"One person says two different facts about themselves, one true and one not. The other person has to guess which one is right. If they guess wrong they have to do whatever the person asks. Then you switch turns."

"That... sounds like something we should do right now."

Vriska stood and grabbed her towel from the chair in the corner, "Alrighty. I should point out that if you say two facts about sexual preference between two things and the person gets it wrong they have to do the right one to you."

"I'll make sure to do lots of those."

Vriska laughed and went into the other room to find some clothes. She slipped into some panties, bra, and a pair of Eridan's jeans. She couldn't be bothered to put a shirt on. She made herself comfortable on Eridan's bed and waited for him to come out of the bathroom. He dried himself off and slid into some clothes himself.

Vriska slipped from the bed, taking the top blanket with her as she went upstairs.

"Where are you going?"

She didn't answer so Eridan followed her. She had spread the blanket out on deck under the bright stars. The cliff leading to Feferi's house could be seen from their current spot on the lake.

"Sleeping together with nothing on but underwear is the best. Having sex with classic music is the best."

"You're not going to make this easy are you?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Classical music."

"Wrong. You owe me some naked cuddling tonight."

Eridan grinned and laid down on the blanket to look up at the stars.

**He won't be able to get away and his blood will paint the floors.**

No! No you wouldn't dare! Leave him alone! He didn't do anything to deserve this!

**Who said anything at all about deserving? I will do it because I find it FUN**

You disgust me! You aren't a part of me and you never will be! You're a fake! You don't even exist.

**Wrong, little darling. I'm real, and YOU'RE the fake. Why do you think we're locked up in this cave? Surely if you were the one in charge here you could just walk out in the broad daylight with the rest of those disgusting red-blooded animals. You are just a pawn of mine and you will do everything I ask you to.**

No I won't! You can't make me! I'll fight until I die if it keeps him safe! You can't hurt him, I won't let you! I love him!

**We'll see about that.**


	10. Chapter 10

It was almost a week later when Vriska woke to her shoulder being shaken. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, squinting them open and meeting Eridan's gaze. She noticed he had a big smile on his face.

"What are you so happy about?"

"You remember that dress you bought that you said you were saving for something special?"

"Yeah?"

"Go bathe and put it on."

"Why?"

"Something special."

Vriska smiled and pulled herself from the confines of Eridan's blanket heap. She bathed quickly and wondered what Eridan was up to. He watched her from his bed while she dried off and got dressed. She waited for an explanation, "Well? What am I getting dressed for?"

He stood up and motioned for her to follow him upstairs. She grabbed her black heels and followed him, slipping them on once they were on deck. She could see they were docked at what looked like a very busy city. She stood straighter, looking to Eridan for explanation. He held out a hand for her to grab and led her down onto the dock. She tried to steady her footing, not used to being on land.

She followed Eridan along the sidewalk, glancing at him continuously and wondering if he would ever tell her where they were going. She was just about to ask again when he spoke up.

"We're going to the biggest theater in the city."

"What are we watching?"

"A new movie that just came out. I was gone this morning; went to the library to research what was available there."

"I didn't notice you left."

"I left a note in case you woke up."

"Okay. Well what's the movie about? And why did I get dressed up to go see a movie?"

"It's a romance I can't remember exactly what it's about but I remember thinking it looked good. I know we both like romance so I figured it would work. You're dressed up because when it's over we're going out to eat."

"Where to?"

"Anywhere you want. Terning is the biggest city around. I'm sure you've heard of it."

"I have a few times. But how do I know what restaurants are around here?"

"We can walk around later and find something. There's a lot of local diners around here."

Vriska kept up behind him and nearly collided with his back as he stopped at a crosswalk. They waited for the light to turn and crossed the street, turning right and starting down a hill.

"We should be there in a few minutes."

They descended the hill until Eridan stopped and motioned towards a door. He opened it up and motioned for Vriska to go ahead of him. She stepped inside and looked around, admiring the décor. Eridan handed her some cash, "Go find us some snacks if you want."

Vriska smiled and went to the concession counter, picking out some candy, popcorn, and Icee. Eridan met her by the hallway and he led her to the right room. They found seats in back and watched through the previews. Vriska loved previews. It was her moment to shine as a movie critic. Eventually, the movie started.

It was almost an hour into it when Eridan set the Icee down and went rigid. Vriska looked over at him. He stared straight ahead, past the movie screen.

"Eridan?"

He didn't respond. She was about to shake his shoulder but he stood up, eliciting dirty comments from the people behind them until he was able to scoot past the people in their row. Vriska grabbed the candy, tossing it in the popcorn container and grabbed their drink before following him.

He stood in the hallway, facing straight and zoned out.

"Eridan? Seriously answer me!"

His pupils suddenly widened and he looked at her, "Huh?"

"Why did you leave? Are you okay?"

"It was too loud."

"What do you mean? There wasn't any noise in there..."

"Everyone thinking at once and whispering and it was giving me a headache."

"What do you mean?"

"We need to leave."

"Why?"

"Emergency."

He immediately turned and strode towards the main lobby of the theater. She followed him as fast as her high heels would allow. Once outside he broke into run. She quickly shoved the candy in her pocket and tossed the rest in a trash can before attempting to catch up. After a minute of struggling she pulled her shoes off and ran barefoot, trying to find where he'd gone off to. The crowds of people made it hard to spot him but she was sure that was him running around the corner. She dodged a slow moving car pulling away from the curb and trailed him.

She winced as her foot hit a sharp rock but she continued on, cussing under her breath. She supposed she should be happy. It was just last night she had been wondering if anything exciting would ever happen while she lived on a boat.

Her hair blew in her face and her feet were sore. She brushed the black strands aside and looked around, spotting Eridan crossing the street and turning towards the docks. She followed close behind. It was a relief when her feet hit the wood of the dock. She jogged to the boat and hopped on board, "So what's the emergency?"

"We need to get to Fef's place."

"So did you intend to ditch me?"

"I knew you'd keep up."

Vriska took a deep breath and blew her hair out of her face. Eridan was rushing around and grabbing things. She made a face when he pulled a gun from on top of the book shelf and popped a new clip in. He went out on deck and untied the rope holding the boat to the dock. Vriska decided now would be the time to prep for some adventures. Eridan went to the steering wheel and started up the motor, steering the boat towards the open lake.

"What do I need to do?"

"You need to get some shoes on and grab something to defend yourself with. That is if you feel like going."

"I don't even know what I'm defending myself from..."

"I don't either."

"Then how do you know we need to defend ourselves?"

"Feferi can choose three live contacts. When one dies he or she can be replaced. I don't know who the other two are; I know I'm one of them though. Those contacts are brought in by mental energy and led into her home where she introduces herself etcetera. When something important happens, she has a mental energy that travels through to her contacts. It's kind of like having a walkie-talkie. She send us feelings and emotions. It takes a lot of concentration though and when shes transmitting something you can hear all of the thoughts around you. That's why I needed to leave the theater. Everyone around you who has a lot on their mind is kind of like when your walkie-talkie picks up a signal from the wrong transmitter. The things she sent... Scared, terrified, worried, danger, murder, help. That's what I could feel through her. And that's why we're going to her place and making sure she's not in danger."

"That's... I shouldn't be shocked."

"Not really."

Eridan finally turned towards a cliff, "Go get shoes on."

Vriska ran downstairs and pulled socks on over her blackened feet, sliding into some of Eridan's sneakers, tying them tight.

She climbed the stairs and found Eridan shutting down the motor and tossing a rope around a thick metal ring attached to the side of a rock formation. It seemed to be a big rock hill jutting out of the water, not even attached to the island. He jumped onto the stone formation, Vriska following close behind. It was an arduous climb to the top of the hill. It could almost be called hiking. The rough stone wasn't easy traveling.

Vriska pulled herself roughly over the ledge at the top to see Eridan pulling rocks from a pile and tossing them into a different pile. He finally pulled a big rock aside that revealed a keypad much like the one on the vault door in the last entrance. He punched in some numbers and pulled on a metal ring attached to the stone. Vriska looked around to notice a deep crack in a big circle. A wide circular door opened on an invisible hinge. Vriska was tempted to ask where the hinge was at but they were kind of short on time.

Eridan gestured for her to go ahead of him and she ducked down to settle her foot on a ladder. She climbed down quickly, Eridan coming in after and closing the door. Everything went dark.

"Eridan?"

"Just keep going. It's straight down and there's solid ground at the bottom."

She grunted and continued on, finally coming to a stone floor at the bottom. She hopped off the ladder and looked around. All she could see was a dark underground lake and dark shadowed stone walls. Eridan Jumped down after her and walked ahead. It looked like he was walking on water but upon closer inspection, there was a small stone just under the water's surface. Vriska took a step behind him and followed his lead. They followed a small trail of rocks in a big 'U' until it trailed back to a hallway on the other side of the lake.

"What's with the rocks," Vriska asked once they had both stepped back onto land.

"They aren't rocks. They're pillars."

"How deep is that lake? Couldn't someone just swim across anyway?"

"The lake is actually a pit. It's about a hundred feet deep and no one will swim across before they get killed."

Vriska gave him a look he probably couldn't see in the dark, "By what?"

"Jellyfish."

"Okay, jellyfish aside, what's with all of these deathtraps? I understand wanting people to stay out but why such harsh deaths?"

"If they find her, she's in danger."

"Can't she just make a new home?"

"No. When a water god or goddess, otherwise known as an Aquathene, is born, she or he lives for one year with their parents and then swims off to find a home for themselves. Once a home is found or created, they take something given to them from their parents called a suffaria. It looks like a ball of glass. When they activate it, they have, I think she said, an hour to move around and mark their home. They have to walk the perimeter of their home and then return to the orb. Upon returning, the suffaria makes it impossible to leave that designated area without them dying, but also grants them eternal life unless killed. The only way you can kill an Aquathene is by cutting out the heart from all seven of their forms."

"Geez you really must have run her dry for information, huh?"

"Yeah, kinda."

She can hear him chuckling and they soon come to a pit. There's a rope in the middle, hanging from the ceiling.

"Do you actually jump across this thing every time you come through here?"

"Absolutely not. It's another trap. It's set up so people think if they can jump across they'll avoid the spikes at the bottom," Vriska looks over the edge to reveal that, yes, there are indeed spikes at the bottom of the pit, "But as soon as there's weight on that rope it detaches and breaks off."

"Then how do we get across? I thought we were in a hurry..."

"We are in a hurry, but all I'm feeling right now is Feferi telling me I should stay out."

"Shouldn't we stay out then?"

"No. She's being modest. If she's in danger I'm going to help her. I'm just going slow because I'm wondering what's going on with her and I'm explaining things to you."

"Well shut up and get going then."

Eridan turned towards a wall with a black spot on it. Vriska noticed a few cracks here and there. She watched as he banged his fists on a few different spots. A chunk of rock dislodged and stuck out. He grabbed it and pulled, turning a large circular formation and causing a click to fill the air. He pushed the rock back into place and turned towards the opposite side of the room, walking across the edge for a minute until he came to a small hole in the wall. He grabbed a hold of it and pulled open a door. Vriska followed him as he ran down the hallway. There was another pit, but this one was covered in smoke so its bottom couldn't be seen. Eridan pointed to a groove in the wall, "If someone thought they could get to the other side by stepping on this and scaling the wall," he put his foot on it and she watched as the wall seemed to slide downwards, "he would probably think he wouldn't be able to get out and or would die."

Eridan let go of his handle and slide down through the smoke to a point where Vriska couldn't see him. She waited a minute until that part of the wall slid back up. She cautiously fit the toe of her foot onto the little ledge, grabbing onto a handhold in the stone before letting go and sinking into the pit. She began to panic when she saw a pit of what looked like quicksand. She was about to call for Eridan when she was suddenly on something solid. She opened her eyes to see she was standing on glass. She tapped her foot on the thick glass and looked around. With no Eridan in sight, she continued down the hallway until she came to some visible hand and footholds carved into the stone. She climbed to the top and found Eridan waiting for her, "Trippy, huh?

"More like terrifying."

They continued down the hall until they came to a door. Vriska was about to open it but Eridan swatted her hand away, "That's a trap."

He, instead, turned to a notch in the wall and opened a stone door much like the one at the other end of the hall. They walked into another room and came to another of those steel doors. Eridan knocked on the door but there were no bubbly fuchsia eyes to greet them. He knocked once more before turning to cross the room. He slid aside a piece of the stone wall to reveal yet another key pad. He pressed a few numbers and walked casually back to the steel door and turned the handle, opening it and waiting for Vriska to go ahead. He pulled the gun from his waist and turned safety off. Vriska had taken with them the sword that was hung on the wall downstairs as a decoration. She honestly had no idea how to wield this thing properly but she could figure it out if her life depended on it. She slid it from the sheath tied around her waist. Her dress probably wouldn't come out of this alive but a girl could dream.

A sudden scream pierced the quiet and Eridan was sprinting down the long corridor. Vriska had to assume he wouldn't run ahead without her if there were any traps to be wary of so she ran blindly behind him, the dark hiding anything up ahead from her vision. All she was following was the sound of his rapid footsteps.

She tried to keep up but his footsteps stopped suddenly and as she registered it she almost ran into the back of him. She slowed to a halt and waited for him to continue.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I'm trying to figure out what room they're in."

Another scream came from their left and he turned and ran towards it. He opened a steel door to reveal what looked like a ballroom; but instead of beautiful dancers, there was piano music and the crimson color of blood on the floor.

A wild laugh came from somewhere in the back of the room followed by another shriek, "HELP HIM!"

At first Vriska thought Feferi was referring to Eridan but then she remembered the blood on the floor. She shoved Eridan forward and followed the trail of smeared blood to the corner. A small frail form lie in a small pool of red. She grabbed the boy by the shoulders and laid him on his back, gasping.

"You?"

She patted his face but he was completely out. She checked for a pulse and upon assurance, she pulled his shirt up to reveal a giant hole in his stomach, blood bubbling over and running down his pale skin. She bit her lip in concentration. It wasn't a bullet hole, but something much larger. Something that stabbed through him with a round form. There was another cut along his side, possibly from the same tool. She regretfully took the sword she had lain on the floor and cut a strip of her dress off, successfully tearing an entire four inches off the bottom. She winced but continued to wrap it around the thin boy's torso, lifting his small body to pull it around back. It didn't do much to stop the bleeding but maybe it would help. She felt it necessary to cut the two inside layers of the dress out and strip them as well, tying them around his middle in an effort to staunch the blood flow. He had lost too much blood already and anymore would kill him.

She heard gunfire and suddenly a groan, "THAT'S REALLY GOING TO GIVE ME A HEADACHE LATER. MAYBE YOUR LIFE CAN MAKE UP FOR IT."

She really hoped Eridan knew what he was doing. She had seen him grab a few magazines and shove them in his pockets before they left but if he wasn't careful he was going to run out of ammo.

Vriska turned at a noise, "Hello?"

She groaned, "Stay here. You aren't in any position to move right now. I'm telling them you're dead. If you try to fight you'll die from blood loss."

"Thanks. That thing... it needs to die. All it does is cause trouble."

That lisp was really killing her.

She rolled her eyes and stood, "Feferi?!"

"I'm over here!"

Vriska ran towards the small voice. The giant towering form three was busy in a duel with Eridan and another man of bigger build on the other side of the room. Vriska rushed at the small girl in the corner in her more human form.

"Is Sollux okay?"

"He's-" she lowered her voice, "he's okay but as far as everyone else is concerned he's dead; got it?"

"Yes ma'am."

Vriska was about to untie her but she shook her head, "Go in the back room. There's a closet over there. Get the bucket and pour all of the water you can carry in it."

Vriska lowered her eyebrows questioningly but rushed to the closet to follow orders. She came back moments later.

"She killed one of my forms already."

"Which one?"

"The one that looks kind of like her."

"I'm sorry."

There was a flash of light and a pink fish took her place. Vriska was quick to grab her and put her in the bucket of water.

"Where do I take you?"

"Take me to Sollux. He can watch me."

Vriska rushed quietly to the other side of the room and set the bucket down next to the damaged boy, "Watch her."

Sollux sat up and leaned against the wall, nodding in Eridan's direction, "You should probably go help them if you can."

"Wait a second, Feferi, don't you have special powers or something?"

"I can't use my powers against one of my forms."

"How did she even detach from you anyway?"

"I have no idea. I didn't even know it was possible, otherwise I would have done it ages ago. Cleaning would have gone a lot faster with some extra me."

"Maybe it's because she has a mind of her own."

"Probably."

Vriska stood with her sword in hand and ran towards the brawl. The other contact, a built man with black hair pulled back to keep out of his face, was busy holding off form three while Eridan snuck around behind her. He spotted Vriska approaching and waved her over. She sprinted silently past and met him by a wall. He held out hand for the sword and gave her the gun instead. Before she had time to ask, he was running towards the ten foot figure and thrust the sword straight into her back, slicing through her gray skin until the blade came out her side. The scream was deafening and left Vriska's ears ringing. It seemed like even cutting her to pieces wouldn't do any good. Eridan said her heart had to be cut out, and it appeared that's what he was doing.

The tall form swung her right arm and a giant trident, definitely the cause of lispy boy's wound, came down to swipe the other contact's face. His body fell to the floor, limp. The form turned around to turn her attention on Eridan and while her attention was diverted, Vriska rushed to the aid of the other man.

His lip was far more than busted and his nose bloody. A dark misshapen bruise was already forming on the side of his face and he was out cold. It took all of her effort to pull his body behind a large speaker. She looked toward the other side of the room where the closet was at. She slid stealthily behind three to hurry to the closet, grabbing two bottles of water and running back.

She opened one and took a swallow before dumping the rest on the boy's face. He jolted upright and she held a hand over his mouth, "Be careful."

She opened the other bottle and handed it to him. He held a hand over the sensitive left side of his face before taking the bottle gratefully and drinking it in one go. Vriska stood to go check on Feferi and Sollux but just as she was getting close to them the form seemed to catch sight of her, "AND WHERE DID YOU COME FROM? VRISKA, WAS IT?"

She advanced upon her slowly, shadow covering Vriska's entire body and blocking the ceiling lights from view. She fidgeted with her trident while tilting her head questioningly, a lethal smile on her face.

She was just raising her trident for the kill when Vriska remembered the gun she had left with the other contact. She gasped and ducked, closing her eyes. She was certain that wouldn't save her but there was never any impact. She opened her eyes, terrified, to see that the man she had just tended to had charged the form and knocked her to her side. Eridan rushed towards her and knowing he couldn't kill her in such short time, went for strategy. He jammed the blade in her exposed arm, causing a scream of anger to bubble from her throat. He bent the blade down, cutting the flesh clean through. He used his foot to forced the blade through her bone, completely detaching her arm.

Vriska was increasingly glad she had brought that sword with her. She stood quickly and did the only thing that could come to mind. She brought her foot down hard on that slice in the form's side, another screech emanating throughout the room and ricocheting against the stone walls.

Eridan pulled the sword back up and brought it down against her back in the same place as before. He had a pained look on his face and Vriska had to wonder if he had expected this kind of duel when being assigned a contact. He was almost done cutting through her back when seemingly out of nowhere, the trident swung through the air and bashed him in the forehead. His legs failed him and he tumbled to the ground. Vriska wasn't very violent but she wouldn't let three back to her feet. She grabbed the sword from where it lay, bloody, at her feet. She grabbed it and finished the job. The sword sunk deep into the gray skin of form three, the Condesce. There was one last scream and a few dying words.

"I only wanted out of this prison. Is that so much to a-" The form broke into a coughing fit and blood spilled from her mouth as the sword made one more connecting line until her heart was completely disconnected from her body.

Vriska stepped back, dropping the sword on the ground. She had blood spattered on her white dress and frayed edges dropping towards the floor. Her sneakers were leaving footprints of red, her hands covered in sticky crimson.

She continued towards the corner and picked up the bucket, pulling Feferi out and setting her on the floor. She witched forms and sat there. Her human-like form was covered in scrapes and blood and dirt.

Vriska carried the bucket to the cleaner side of the room and set it down, kneeling and dipping her hands in, washing away the blood of the dead from her fingertips. Eridan and the other two joined her, Sollux limping badly and the taller brushing loose hair from his face.

Vriska suddenly gasped, "I know you! You used to live next to me. He looked up and a look of confusion spread over his features, "Are you the girl reported missing?"

"I shouldn't still be marked as missing. I've talked to my friend since the accident and told her I wasn't coming home."

"All I heard was there was an accident."

"Well nice to finally meet you. It's an unfortunate place to finally meet officially but whatever."

She held out a hand but he waved her off and bent down to clean the drying blood from his own hands.

Sollux was in the worst condition. His blue T-shirt was painted a disgusting brown and the white material tied around his torso was bright red. He was just getting close to them to clean himself up when he wobbled and collapsed. Vriska was about to rush to his aid but Feferi waved her off and picked him up herself. She carried him tot he bucket of water and washed the blood and grime from his skin.

Eridan sat down next to her and Vriska looked up, leaning over to look at his head. She sighed, tearing another piece of fabric from her once perfect dress and dipped it in water, carefully dabbing at the blood dripping from a cut on his forehead. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Where are your glasses?"

"Over there somewhere. The came off when she hit me. They're probably broken."

She stood and searched around until she found the black frames, slightly bent but unbroken, lying next to the bloody mess leftover from the fight.

She brought them back, unbending them carefully and placing them gently back on her lover's face. She scrubbed the rest of his face off and placed a kiss on his frowning lips. Feferi finally stood, "Do you all want to have something to eat before you leave? Maybe sleep a while?"

Eridan looked up, "If you don't mind."

"No problem at all. I'm so sorry to all of you about this."

Vriska's old neighbor, Equius was his name, looked up at her, "It wasn't your fault."

"Thank you."

They all stood and followed Feferi down long hallways. Vriska felt like she had been walking forever. It seemed like miles later, they finally came to a door that opened up in the living room she had been in the last time she visited. They all piled in and Feferi led them to a bathroom, "If you want, you can all take showers or wash up at the sink. Make yourselves at home."

Vriska went to the sink and washed her hands better, examining her dress in the mirror. Eridan came in behind her, "I can buy you a hundred more dresses."

"I know. I just feel bad that I ruined it the first time wearing it."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I think you look better without it anyway."

Vriska laughed and turned the water off, going out into the dining room where Feferi was serving up soup and sandwiches. Vriska helped herself to some and leaned back in her chair, Eridan coming in and sitting beside her.

She held his hand under the table. This place was really something. It took her a minute to reabsorb everything that had happened in the last two weeks. Her life was an adventure now. Of course there wasn't going to be a new Condesce to fight every week but she could almost be positive things would always stay interesting. She was about to go into the living room when she caught Feferi in the kitchen with Sollux. He was just waking up and Feferi has tears running down her cheeks.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll live."

Sollux seemed a little shocked when Feferi leaned in and kissed him gently on his bruised lips. He smiled as best he could and leaned into her. Vriska smiled and went into the other room to relax. She would need all of the rest she could get. Her life now would never be as simple as it was. She didn't mind that.

~FIN~


End file.
